Gabriele Watts Represents Defendant Who Receives Suspended Sentence With No Conditions for Importation of Drugs With Street Value of Over £500,000

The defendant was charged with importation of cannabis from Thailand, with a street value of over £500,000. He was intercepted upon arrival into Heathrow Airport by Border Control Officers and remanded into custody. The defendant was a young man of good character.

He pleaded guilty to the offence at the earliest opportunity.

The defence collated a strong mitigation bundle, and engaged in enquires of an international scale in order to identify evidence in support of the defendant for the purposes of sentence.

Written and oral submissions were made by Gabriele Watts at court. In particular, submissions were made against the Crown’s assertions that the defendant must have known the true scale of the drugs operation, and obtained a significant financial benefit.

The defence position throughout was that his culpability was that of a lesser role, with no financial reward or benefit, and no awareness of the scale of the operation.

The Judge accepted the submissions made on behalf of the defendant and noted the level of preparation by the defence team, as well as the genuine remorse shown by the client, his positive character, compassion, and excellent prospects.

The defendant was sentenced to 4 months suspended for 12 months with no conditions.

The Judge recognised that the course he was taking in passing this sentence was “exceptional”.

Counsel was instructed by Rachel Cook and Ciara Murphy of Peters & Peters LLP.