“The root of the problem is alcohol”

Friday 21 January 2022

Incidents of violence fuelled by alcohol saw two young men sentenced in the Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

A 19-year-old was given a suspended sentence for punching two people, including his sister. A second defendant was sent to prison for punching a fridge.

Jack Ceillam, 19, was the first of the two to stand before Judge Gary Perry. He was charged with two counts of assault and one of criminal damage.

Ceillam had been out in St. Peter Port with his sister and a friend on 21 October. At roughly 02:00, he got into an argument with his sister near the Harbour Lights at the South Esplanade. 

The argument led to Ceillam punching his sister in the face. He then went to Mojito, another bar at the South Esplanade, where he told staff what he had done and asked them to call the police.

Ceillam then left Mojito and walked back towards his sister, who was still on the floor. While walking towards his sister, he punched a wing mirror off a van.

As he walked past his sister, a friend tried to calm him down, but he then punched that friend in the face. 

Ceillam was arrested after calling the police and telling them what he had done.

He was defended in Court by Advocate Liam Roffey. Advocate Roffey said that Ceillam had suffered a difficult upbringing and was upset by his actions.

“This is not someone who sees this behaviour as a badge of honour,” he said.

Pictured: Both men were sentenced in the Magistrate's Court.

Judge Perry spent 20 minutes deliberating before outlining why punches to the head are taken so seriously.

“Most other people in this Court will be sick to the back teeth of me talking about punches to the head… a punch to the head can kill," he said.

He took Advocate Roffey’s mitigation into account and issued Ceillam with a two-year suspended sentence of seven months. Ceillam was also ordered to pay compensation for the wing mirror and to the victims and handed a supervision order for 18 months.

In the next case to go before the Court, Daniel Kaines, 33, was sent to prison for two months after punching his mother’s fridge.

The comparatively severe sentence was due to what Judge Perry described as Kaines' “appalling record”. 

Kaines had lived at his mother's house for some time. On 2 October, he was drinking at his mother's house, and by 17:00 that day he and his mother were arguing about his drinking. 

Pictured: Kaines was sent to Les Nicolles for criminal damage.

During the argument, Kaines punched a metal fridge hard enough to leave an imprint of his fist.

His mother called the police and locked herself in a bathroom until Kaines was arrested.

He appeared from custody after breaking his bail conditions.

Advocate Roffey said prison would be “of little deterrent” to Kaines, who has appeared in court multiple times. Advocate Roffey said that an alternative sentence might be more appropriate.

“I accept that prison may not challenge you, but sentencing is not about you,” said Judge Perry.

He wasted no time in sentencing Kaines to two months in Les Nicolles.