Prison threat for resisting arrest

Sunday 28 June 2020

A 31-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a number of charges including resisting arrest and possession of a Class C drug during lockdown has been threatened with a prison sentence if he breaks the law again.

Guernsey Police were called on 3 April to Les Genats Estate, where Shaun Ogden was involved in a disagreement.

From the outset, CCTV showed the defendant was swearing at the officers and telling them to leave.

When asked if he had drunk any alcohol, he sarcastically said he had consumed "two bottles of vodka and eight bottles of whisky" before later admitting he had actually drunk four cans of larger.

As the situation evolved, Ogden became "irate" and officers decided to arrest him for breaching the peace. The defendant tried to push them away and refused to put out his arms, so one of the officers used "two or three controlled strikes" to the face to get him under control. He then used pava spray and Ogden was taken to the ground where he was eventually handcuffed.

Pictured: The incident took place on Les Genats Estate.

"If I see you in the street without uniform you're getting slapped, I mean it," he told the officers.

The defendant said he had some tramadol tablets in his possession which he had bought illegally from a friend and asked if that would get him in trouble. On searching, police found a blister pack of three 50mg tablets and Ogden was charged with possession of a Class C drug.

He said the tramadol was only for personal use as self-medication for his "bad back", after his doctor had stopped prescribing a similar drug.

In his mitigation, Advocate Sam Steel said the defendant was "unhappy the police had become involved" as their presence had been "unnecessary and unjustified" in the situation.

Advocate Steel also suggested the officers' actions had been "disproportionate" - using pava spray in response to Ogden's "muscles tensing, nothing more than that".

Pictured: One of the officers used pava spray to control the defendant.

Ogden also pleaded guilty in court to breaching bail when he turned up late to one of his scheduled appearances.

He had been remanded in custody for four weeks ahead of his sentencing, after being arrested at Guernsey Airport for attempting to leave the island, which contravened one of his bail conditions. 

"You have a number of convictions against you and prison sentences have been served in the past," said Judge Graeme McKerrell, who particularly noted Ogden's 12-month prison sentence for assault back in 2014. "It seems clear to me you have an attitude that the world is against you and the world is wrong.

"You have been in custody for around a month, but that is no one's fault but your own by trying to travel out of Guernsey with a one-way ticket."

Taking into account the time the defendant had already spent in custody, Judge McKerrell decided to give him a suspended sentence of eight weeks, which he will have to serve if he commits any further crimes within the next two years.

"Hopefully it will make you think twice," Judge McKerrell added.

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