John Michael Childs also concealed 15g of cannabis internally before his trip to visit his brother and cousin on 8 January this year, the Royal Court heard on Thursday.
Childs was stopped by a Customs officer at the Airport after his plane landed, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit said and despite initially denying that he was a drug user, swabs were carried out on Childs’ possessions, which gave positive readings for cocaine, heroin and THC – the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis.
After a strip search found nothing illegal, Childs was taken to the Hospital for an X-ray, which showed a suspicious object in his abdomen and he later told officers that he had concealed a quantity of herbal cannabis internally.
Less than an hour later, officers found Childs in his cell with a black plastic-wrapped package that had been opened and herbal cannabis – with a Jersey street value of £500 – scattered on the floor.
Due to concerns that Childs may have swallowed something, officers took him back to the Hospital for a second X-ray, which again revealed something suspicious and two days later Childs produced a package containing 20.11g of cocaine, the Superior Number – which only convenes for the most serious cases – was told.
During interview Childs told officers that he was an unemployed cocaine and heroin addict and that he had come to Jersey to visit family and look for work and Childs, who has 36 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to one count of importing herbal cannabis and one charge of importing cocaine on the basis that the drugs were for his personal use.
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