COURT: The defendant has been acquitted after trial of one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, namely 18.8 grammes of “Ice” and seven tablets containing 0.04 gramme of nimetazepam by pure narcotic content.
At the commencement of the proceedings, he admitted to possession of the same.
The facts of the case were simple. The police stopped the defendant outside his flat, went in, and found the drugs just mentioned on the table. Also on the table were a pile of resealable plastic bags and an electronic scale.
The defendant is aged 49. Born in Hong Kong, he was educated up to Form 2 level. At the time of his arrest, he was ostensibly unemployed and in receipt of the CSSA, although on his own evidence, he supplemented his income by working part-time as a taxi driver.
He has 13 previous convictions, five of which were similar. For a single trafficking offence in 2002 he was sentenced to 7½ years’ imprisonment.
The DATC report that I called for in this case does not recommend disposal of the matter in that manner.
In view of the quantity of drugs involved, a starting point of 18 months is appropriate. Given the paraphernalia to do so, namely the bags and the electronic scale, there was, I am satisfied, a latent risk of trafficking in those drugs, a risk that necessitates an enhancement of 6 months to 2 years.
The guilty plea will nevertheless take it back down to 16 months, and that is the sentence I pass on the defendant.
He will go to prison for 16 months.