Jail time for cannabis dealing

Friday 23 September 2022

A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison by Guernsey's Royal Court for supply and possession of cannabis, and for declining to disclose a mobile phone pin code.

Zak Dragun pleaded guilty to four counts of supply and possession of Class B cannabis flower and cannabis resin on June 23. He had been granted unconditional bail until his sentencing yesterday.

Dragun did not grant access to a recovered Nokia mobile phone, but another iPhone was cracked by investigators and revealed evidence of dealing. He also pleaded guilty to a RIPL offence. 

Prosecuting Advocate Marc Davies said Dragun first appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on November 1 2021 to face a charge of cannabis possession. 

On September 8 2021, Police had carried out a 'stop and search' of another individual on suspicion of drug possession. They were subsequently arrested and associated addresses were searched, including Draguns.

No one was present during the search during which Police discovered 2.56 grams of cannabis and found over £1,000 in a drawer beside plastic bags and cling film. Pictures from this search were provided to the court.

The following day, Police found and arrested Dragun who was found to have £183.91 on him. He was released on bail.

The total cash recovered from searches following his initial arrest was £1,603.91. The prosecution held that “this money represented proceeds" from drug sales.

Pictured: Dragun's case was heard by the Royal Court.

Police later executed a warrant on Dragun's address on November 5 2021. On this occasion he was seen to open a window and hold out a zip lock bag with a green substance in it.

An officer ordered Dragun to stay where he was, but he emptied the contents of the bag onto the neighbouring properties roof.

27.4 grams of cannabis were recovered from the roof and surrounding area afterwards.

A subsequent search of the property found 9.2 grams of cannabis resin in a jar, along with cannabis paraphernalia and weighing scales.

A wallet by Dragun's bed contained £475 in cash, and a further £1,095 was found in a drawer, and he was arrested on suspicion of supply.

Advocate Davies said the amounts sold were usually as low as one gram, up to a maximum of five grams, to approximately 17 people.

He added that Dragun was unable to provide a legitimate source for the cash.

The Nokia phone could not be entered without a code, which Dragun declined to provide throughout the investigation. 

He was served a RIPL notice on February 2 and again declined to provide a code, but the iPhone messages we’re proven to facilitate the offence, according to Advocate Davies.

An ongoing investigation into drug dealing activities led to a further charge on suspicion of supply on March 11 2022. 

Pictured: Dragun has since been prescribed cannabis by a doctor.

Defending Dragun, Advocate Sam Steel apologised on behalf of his client for the “serious set of offending”, most of which was whilst on bail, but he said this was the first time Dragun has faced charges for supply.

He added that Dragun has struggled with sleep since he was young and has since been prescribed cannabis for depression and back pain, leading him to no longer fear hiding his habit from the police. But Dragun was fearful of the impact of a custodial sentence without his prescribed cannabis. Judge Catherine Fooks confirmed that the guidelines for prescribing in prison were unlikely to apply in his case. 

Advocate Steel recognised the seriousness of failing to provide the phone pin code, but “to his credit did not attempt to falsify” the origins of the cash, admitting that it came from drug dealing.

Dragun’s recent fatherhood was mentioned, with Advocate Steel saying he “doesn’t want to be an absent father”, and that there were “reasonable grounds to be confident” of his new pro-social life attitude, including obtaining stable employment.

Advocate Steel asked the court to consider a suspended sentence and community service, saying that Dragun “would repay such mercy” by diligently following out any orders.

Pictured: Dragun was sent to Les Nicolles. 

Sentencing Dragun, Judge Fooks gave full credit for his early guilty pleas but said he had a “poor record for one so young”, and that he returned to offending “within a matter of weeks of completing youth detention supervision”. 

She also said the court will continue to follow the Richard’s guidelines for sentencing in illicit drug supply cases.

But Dragun’s “impeccable attitude” towards parenthood was cited from the probation report. Nevertheless, Judge Fooks said the assessment of his high-risk of reoffending has not changed, and alternatives to custody couldn’t be considered.

Dragun was sentenced to two years imprisonment for supply, and three months and one month for possession to run concurrently, and nine months, to run consecutively for the RIPL offence.

The forfeiture of the drugs and mobile phones was also ordered.

Judge Fooks said whatever provisions available would be investigated to allow him to have visits from his young children whilst in custody. 

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