Man jailed after he stole "rotten" cannabis

Monday 28 September 2020

A 25-year-old has been sentenced to six years in prison for drug offences and refusing to comply with the police investigation.

Jake Poullard, 25, has been sentenced to a total of six years in Les Nicolles Prison for possessing cannabis resin with intent to supply, possession of cannabis, and failing to comply with the police investigation by refusing the pin code to his iPhone.

At around 20:00 on 2 December, a police officer in a marked vehicle in Allez Street saw the defendant getting into a car that had pulled over to pick him up.

The officer followed the vehicle and flashed his lights to indicate it should stop, however the vehicle continued to drive slowly away before pulling into a car park, at which point Poullard jumped out and fled with his hood up and a rucksack on his back. 

The officer called for further assistance and went off in pursuit of Poullard, who disposed of the rucksack in another car park. The officer chased Poullard through some gardens in Victoria Road before the defendant was eventually caught hiding at the bottom of some steps near to the basement of a property.

Pictured: It was just three years since Poullard had been given a lengthy sentence by the Royal Court for drug dealing.

More officers arrived on the scene and they went to retrieve the rucksack, which contained two large packages containing a total of 8.08kg cannabis resin. It was given a street value of between £162,000 to £242,000. Following a search of his home, 0.4g of herbal cannabis was also found. 

In interview, Poullard said the cannabis was not his and would not confirm who it belonged to. He had taken it from a hedge, where it was reportedly being stored by someone else. 

Poullard was asked to provide access to his mobile phone, but refused to do so. When he was told that not doing so was punishable by way of a prison sentence under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2003, he replied: "F*ck it, I'll do [the time] for it."

Defence Advocate Paul Lockwood said his client had stolen the cannabis resin from a hedge and accepted there had been an intent to supply.

Taking the cannabis resin had been an "opportunistic" and "stupid" mistake that Poullard now regretted. Once he found that the rucksack was "waterlogged" and that the drugs inside had become a "rotten mouldy mess", Poullard decided to take the rucksack to a secluded location and throw it into the sea. 

Pictured: Poullard was sentenced on Thursday for being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin, possession of a small amount of cannabis and the RIPL offences. 

He had arranged a lift to do so and said he was on the way to doing so when he was intercepted by police. 

He said the theft of the drugs was undoubtedly a "stupid decision that will impact [Poullard] for numerous years" and that he had refused access to his phone as he "doesn't want his culpability for his theft catching up with him".

There was some dispute in the courtroom about whether the state of the drugs should be factored into the sentencing. However, the Bailiff Richard McMahon and the Jurats decided that it did not make a substantial difference.

Poullard's previous sentences were also considered; a 30-month sentence was handed down to him as recently as October 2017 for drug dealing. 

Judge McMahon said that sentence had clearly "had no effect" on the defendant's willingness to re-offend. 

He said he had shown a "lack of cooperation" and a "poor attitude" during the investigation. Under the current laws, Judge McMahon said Poullard's repeat offending had to be dealt with "robustly".

Poullard was sentenced to five and a half years for the drug supply charges and an extra six months for the RIPL offences. 

Pictured top: Jake Poullard has been sentenced to a total of six years in prison.