Teenager jailed after breaking probation

Sunday 17 November 2019

A teenager who was previously 'let off lightly' by Guernsey's Royal Court for having unlawful sex with a minor has been jailed after breaking his promise of good behaviour.

18-year-old Kane Wray will serve six months in youth detention for breaching his two year probation order and later failing to attend court and therefore breaking his bail.

Wray was originally sentenced in January 2018, after he pleaded guilty to his original offence. Because of the circumstances, where he believed he had gained his partner's consent - although that was not legally possible because of her age - the Court decided to 'let him off lightly'. 

The probation order he was given meant he had to keep to a number of conditions, including reporting to an assigned person regularly. But Wray didn't keep to these, which led to him being arrested again so he could be re-sentenced before the Royal Court. Before that sentencing he was bailed by Guernsey Police, but then never turned up to Court - a second criminal offence.

Pictured: Wray failed to attend court for the date originally set for his re-sentencing. 

Defence Advocate Phoebe Cobb told Judge Russel Finch and the Jurats her client had always struggled with attendance, including during his school years, and was not intentionally ignoring the orders of the Court. 

She said Wray had told her he was hoping he would be able to work on himself after his sentencing was over. 

But Judge Finch said Wray had failed to engage with the help he was offered, and there would be no more chances.

"You have been offered an awful lot of help in the past," he said, "enough is enough."

Judge Finch referred to what he said when Wray was first sentenced, where he told him that if he carried on committing offences, he would be walking down the stairs behind him in to prison: "you have had your chance: you blew it, and now you're going down those steps as promised".

In total, Wray was given five months youth detention for the original offence of unlawful sexual intercourse, and a further one month for breaching bail. This was because he could not follow non-custodial sentences. 

Pictured top: Les Nicoles Prison.