A recipe for disaster...

Monday 03 February 2020

A 65-year-old woman, who visited Guernsey last year, has been sent to prison by the island's court for laundering money - hidden in a copy of 'Bible Stories' and a Jamie Oliver cookbook.

Julie Dixon came over from the UK on 25 June 2019, planning to help move criminal cash off the island.

Despite having no direct connection to Guernsey, she had travelled on her own for a short return trip.

At the time, Guernsey Police were investigating a money laundering operation and immediately suspected Dixon on her arrival from Gatwick.

That morning,  she checked in to a hotel at Grandes Rocques before heading to the Cobo Post Office, where she bought two padded envelopes. She then returned to the hotel and was in contact via mobile with 'A', who officers also suspected. The person has not been charged and therefore cannot be identified.

Pictured: The defendant's mobile has been confiscated.

Dixon met 'A' in a secluded coastal carpark before being dropped back to the hotel. It is thought this is when the cash was handed over to her.

That afternoon, the defendant returned to the Cobo Post Office, where she posted one of the envelopes, addressed to a man in London.

The parcel was intercepted and was found to contain three children's books. When they took a closer look, officers found £1,500 has been concealed within the pages of one book - 'Bible Stories'.

The postage receipt was later found in Dixon's hotel room bin.

The following day, the defendant headed into St Peter Port where she paid a visit to a local HSBC branch. There, she paid in £2,940 via one of the paying in machines. She then went to NatWest on the High Street and attempted to pay in more cash, but wasn't able as she didn't have a local debit card or paying-in slip. At this point, she returned to the same HSBC branch, where she paid in a further £1,100.

Pictured: The defendant tried to pay some money in at NatWest, but couldn't.

Receipts for these transactions were also found in the hotel room waste.

During her trip to St Peter Port, Dixon picked up a Jamie Oliver cookbook, some silver wrapping paper and some clingfilm from various different shops, before returning to Grandes Rocques by bus.

The defendant was arrested before her planned return to the UK on 27 June.

On searching her, officers found she was carrying £2,780 in her handbag, £450 in an envelope and £500 in her shoulder bag.

A further £4,000 was concealed in her suitcase at the hotel. It had been concealed within the recipe book, which had been wrapped in clingfilm and then again in the silver wrapping paper.

The defendant attempted to conceal and move a total of £14,650 during her time in Guernsey.

When questioned, Dixon told the police: "it's money that's been owed to me for a long time, I haven't done anything wrong."

In her mitigation, Defence Advocate Oliver Fattorini claimed Dixon "clearly did not know what she was doing".

"She behaved in a way that made it inevitable that she would be caught," he added. "Ms Dixon had no knowledge of local banking procedures and had left a paper trail in her bin. This is the action of someone who had little understanding of her criminal behaviour."

However, Judge Gary Perry disagreed.

"If she had little understanding, she could have carried the cash instead of trying to conceal it," he told Advocate Fattorini. "To hide it in the pages of a book shows something far more suspicious."

Pictured: The defendant was sentenced by the Magistrate's Court.

Judge Perry did give Dixon credit for her early guilty pleas and previous good character, but did not believe her alleged "naivety and ignorance".

"You came to this island for a single purpose and you knew it was a criminal one," he said on sentencing. "Offences like this can pay directly into the hands of people who believe stereotypes of the island.

"Offending of this nature demands a sentence that will deter others."

The defendant was sentenced to seven months is prison from 6 January, when she was first remanded in custody.

It has not been disclosed where the money originally came from. Its forfeiture was ordered by the court.

Pictured top: The defendant hid some of the money in a Jamie Oliver cookbook.