Lengthy prison sentences for importing £250k worth of cannabis

Tuesday 19 January 2021

Two men - one of whom was a baggage handler - have been slammed with lengthy prison sentences for the part they played in the importation of almost 10kg of cannabis resin.

Daniel Gauvain, 29, and Luke Blondel, 37, were sentenced in the Royal Court this morning. Gauvain has been sent to prison for eight years, six months, while Blondel was sentenced to five years, six months behind bars.

An arrest warrant has been signed for the third defendant, Jamie Ferbrache, 27, who is believed to have absconded from Guernsey following a trial in November using his brother's ID.

On 16 March 2019, Ferbrache and Gauvain returned to the island after a trip to Manchester. Upon arrival, Blondel took a rucksack containing the drugs out of Ferbrache's suitcase in hold luggage and was caught taking it away on the baggage truck.

The trio were charged with jointly attempting to import drugs into the island and each, separately, for refusing to provide passcodes to their phones during the border agency investigation. 

Pictured: Gauvain and Blondel were finally sentenced in Guernsey's Royal Court, 22 months since they committed the offences. 

Blondel pleaded guilty to both charges, however Ferbrache and Gauvain both pleaded not guilty to importing cannabis. At a trial in November, the Royal Court Judge and Jurats unanimously found the pair guilty of being involved in the importation of 9.37kg of Class B cannabis resin worth between £187,400 and £281,100.

Gauvain and Blondel were both sentenced in Ferbrache’s absence today in a case that has dragged on for almost two years. At one point, Blondel even asked to be remanded in custody so that he could start serving his seemingly inevitable prison sentence while his co-defendants asked for a trial, however this was refused. 

Defence Advocate Andrew Ayres said Blondel had no previous convictions on his record. The 37-year-old had worked as a baggage handler for Aurigny for many years before losing his job as a result of his actions. He had reportedly been offered £5,000 to help facilitate the importation and accepted it, as he was going through financial difficulties. 

The Court was told that he had experienced anxiety and depression since losing his job at Aurigny and had been unable to find re-employment with these proceedings hanging over him. 

The Court was given personal references from retired Aurigny CEO Mark Darby and former Managing Director Malcolm Hart. They were not read out in Court, but Advocate Ayres said “the significance of these references won’t be lost on you” as he passed them to the Lieutenant-Bailiff Russell Finch and the Jurats. 

Pictured: At one point, Blondel even asked to be remanded in custody so that he could start serving his inevitable prison sentence as proceedings dragged on. 

Defence Advocate Phoebe Cobb said Gauvain does not accept the verdict of his trial and maintains his innocence to this day. “There was certainly no evidence that he was the main organiser or instigator,” she said. 

She described her client as a family man who had complied with his bail notices and had no relevant previous convictions. The Court was told that Gauvain suffered with anxiety.

Advocate Cobb added that her client refused to provide his pin code because he didn’t want to “get other people into trouble”.

Despite Blondel's refusal to disclose his, off-island specialists managed to get into his phone, but found no evidence linking him to his co-defendants. Someone else, who was arrested but not charged due to a lack of evidence, tried to contact Blondel 15 times on 16 March, the day of the offence. 

Pictured: Gauvain, Blondel and the yet-to-be-sentenced Ferbrache all broke the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2003 during the investigation, by not disclosing the pin codes to their phones.

Lt-Bailiff Finch described Blondel's actions as a "shameful betrayal" of his employer's trust. Despite "overwhelming evidence", he said Gauvain did not accept his crime and had showed no remorse. 

In line with the Richards 2002 guidelines for cannabis importations between 5kg and 10kg, both were given a starting point for sentencing of nine years, six months. After applying mitigation, Blondel's sentence for the importation charge was five years and Gauvain's was eight years, which reflected the sentencing 'discount' Blondel received for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Both received additional six month sentences for refusing to disclose their pin codes. 

In total, Gauvain was sentenced to eight years, six months behind bars and Blondel was sentenced to five years, six months.