A FORMER soldier ‘traumatised’ by combat operations and his female accomplice who buried heroin and cocaine worth more than £200,000 in Howard Davis Park have been jailed.
Michael Stephen Clohessy (44), a Liverpudlian who served two tours of duty in Iraq, and Tara-Lei Ashlyn Cowell (35), from the Isle of Man, imported heroin which could have fetched as much as £215,000 in street deals.
The duo were spotted walking around the park on 25 October, stopping near St Luke’s Church, close to where the drugs were found buried in a shallow hole near the park toilets. They were arrested in a pub the same day, in an investigation involving Customs and States police officers.
Clohessy and Cowell had arrived in Jersey the day before, Crown Advocate Chris Baglin, prosecuting, told the Royal Court.
Alongside the £215,000 worth of heroin, a small quantity of cocaine was also discovered that could have sold for £600. Cowell imported the drugs internally and delivered them to Clohessy, who acted as the ‘middle man’, passing them on to an unnamed dealer on the Island, the court was told.
Clohessy had battled substance misuse after being traumatised by his experiences in Iraq, while Cowell agreed to import the drugs due to pay off a drug debt, the court was told.
Advocate Baglin said the pair admitted the charges only when ‘the evidence was overwhelming’. Both admitted charges of being concerned in the importation of the class A drugs at a previous court appearance. Cowell also admitted importing the class C drugs pregabalin and diazepam.
They had a string of previous convictions, the court heard. Clohessy was judged as at high risk of reoffending while Cowell was judged at ‘very high’ risk of reoffending.
By coming to Jersey, Clohessy was also in breach of a probation order imposed by a court in Liverpool which barred him from leaving the UK.
Lawyers for both the accused accepted that prison sentences were inevitable but argued that the defendants should be given discounts for their guilty pleas.
Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, defending Clohessy, said he had been traumatised by his experiences in Iraq.
‘For the past 15 years he has battled a drugs and drink addiction,’ she said. ‘His substance misuse is a coping mechanism to deal with his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.’
She added that he had run up debts through his use of drugs and had agreed to act as a middle man in order to pay them off.
‘It’s abundantly clear that there is a direct causal link between this and the diagnosis of PTSD,’ she said.
The advocate also said that Clohessy’s spell on remand in La Moye prison had helped him. ‘He feels his life has finally turned a corner,’ she told the court.
Advocate Dix called for a sentence of eight years or less.
Advocate Julian Gollop, defending Cowell, said his client had been clear of heroin for 18 months but still owed drug dealers money for her previous historical drug habit.
He said: ‘It was £5,000. Interest was placed on that and she was told she now owed £20,000.’
The court heard she had been threatened and beaten by the dealers until she agreed to carry the drugs to Jersey – somewhere she had never been before.
‘She was fearful for her mother and two young sons,’ he said.
The diazepam and pregablin were for her personal use, he added, and were to help in her recovery from heroin addiction. He argued for a sentence of six to 6½ years.
Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith, sitting as judge, said the court had considered the mitigating factors but concluded: ‘There is nothing exceptional in this case that warrants deviation from the strict sentencing guidelines.
‘This activity is dangerous. It ruins lives and it has a severely damaging impact on the local community.’
Clohessy was sentenced to 7½ years in prison, while Cowell received a sentence of seven years.
Jurats Jerry Ramsden, Jane Ronge and Pam Pitman were sitting.
Following the sentencing, lead drug squad investigating officer Detective Constable Adam Claxton said: ‘Those intent on supplying illegal drugs in our island will be pursued with vigour and we will use every tool at our disposal to prosecute them.’
