Are those drugs, or are you just happy to see me?

Tuesday 04 February 2020

A French chef with a daily cannabis habit has claimed he was compelled to bulk-buy drugs when he was visiting home because he could not trust Condor to sail over the Christmas Period, Guernsey's Royal Court has heard.

On 28 October, Alexander Bourdou, 32, was returning to Guernsey from Rennes when Customs Officers found cannabis and cocaine hidden between his legs.

After resolutely denying having any drugs on him, the officers searched him and found the packages of drugs tucked behind his scrotum, between his testicle and his thigh. 

He had only been living and working in Guernsey for seven weeks.

Pictured: Bourdou was sentenced in the Royal Court. 

Yesterday, Bourdou was sentenced to three years in prison by the Royal Court, who also recommended him for deportation on his release. 

In total, he had 67.59g of cannabis and 3.97g of cocaine in the packages. 

Crown Advocate Jenny McVeigh told the Court that when Bourdou was pulled aside at the ferry terminal, he denied using any drugs recently, and said he had only used cannabis when he was a child in France. Officers took swab tests of his phone and bag, however, which both tested positive for cocaine, and so he admitted using the class A drug recently. 

A search then revealed the drug packages between his legs. A search at his house also found a knife hidden with a brown residue on the blade.

Pictured: Bourdou said he used cannabis daily, and cocaine occasionally. 

Later, in interviews at Guernsey Police station, Bourdou said he had lied to customs officers to try and avoid being searched. Advocate McVeigh said Bourdou had been back to France to visit his family for one night, and had bought the drugs because they were much cheaper there than in Guernsey. He bought so much because he wanted the drugs to last him until the new year, because he had been told Condor was not reliable over the Christmas period, and he may not be able to get off island. 

Bourdou had a number of previous convictions as well. In Rennes, he had served time for theft and domestic assault, and had also been fined for having drugs on him in 2007. 

Judge Russell Finch gave Bourdou credit for his guilty pleas - which were entered immediately upon being charged - but commented on his lack of previous good character. "This was quite a significant amount of cannabis, and the drugs were concealed in an unpleasant manner," he said. 

Bourdou's three year sentence was backdated to when he was first remanded in custody in October. 

Pictured top: Bourdou was coming back to Guernsey on Condor loaded up with drugs, but was caught at the border checkpoint.