Community service for man who handed himself in to police

Community service for man who handed himself in to police

Vincent John Cooper (35), of Tunnell Street, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and cannabis found at the property in Rue des Prés, St Saviour, in January.

The Magistrate’s Court heard that 309 mg of cocaine and 1.7 gm of cannabis were found at the premises after officers executed a drugs search.

Centenier Mike Byrne said that on the evening of Monday 22 January the defendant went to the States police’s headquarters to tell officers that the drugs found in the raid belonged to him.

Advocate Luke Sette, defending, said that his client had forgotten he had left the drugs at the house. ‘He wrote his own charges and that is the reason why he is in front of you today. As a result of his actions, others were exonerated,’ he said

He told the court that Cooper was already engaging voluntarily with the Alcohol and Drugs Service and had the assistance of a job coach in an attempt to find work. However, he was currently signed off sick and lived off sickness benefit and income support.

The defendant was sentenced to community service for drugs offences last year and the lawyer said that there were some positive comments about his performance on the scheme.

He submitted that in terms of drug use ‘it was a lapse rather than a relapse’ and added that his client undergoes regular drug testing.

In sentencing, Mr Harris said: ‘You get credit for going to police headquarters and I accept that this was above and beyond a normal guilty plea.’

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