Young man’s efforts to turn life around earns praise of court

Young man’s efforts to turn life around earns praise of court

When he appeared before Relief Magistrate David Le Cornu this week, George Eardley Cookson, of Rue au Moestre, St Brelade, admitted possessing MDMA on 16 February and MDMA and cannabis resin at his home the following day.

Advocate Matthew Jowitt, defending, said the young man had been on a downward spiral following a 2017 conviction in the Royal Court for a serious driving offence. The advocate said after that Cookson fell in with the wrong crowd, his school work suffered and he sought escape in drugs.

However, he added that since Cookson’s February arrest on the drugs charges, he had given up drugs and that a probation report referred to the defendant as a ‘thoughtful and intelligent young man’ who is ‘clearly determined to build a life’.

Advocate Jowitt said Cookson had now found better ways to cope with his problems and gained insight into his past offending. He asked that the court consider fining the defendant rather than imposing a custodial sentence.

‘It would be retrograde to sentence him to a period of custody,’ Advocate Jowitt argued.

In sentencing Cookson, Relief Magistrate David Le Cornu said the amount of MDMA Cookson was found in possession of would normally warrant time in prison. However, he said the court was ‘very impressed’ with the defendant’s self-imposed supervision and his young age was also a mitigating factor.

Mr Le Cornu fined Cookson a total of £600 on the two MDMA charges and bound him over to be of good behaviour for a period of 12 months on the cannabis charge.

‘If you come back to court that matter will be revisited,’ he warned.

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