A TEENAGER who used the dark web to buy drugs to ‘self medicate’ his undiagnosed ADHD and autism has been given 150 hours of community service.
The individual, who was 16 at the time of the offending and is now 18, imported amphetamine through the post – some of which was supplied to a friend – and was also in possession of LSD, MDMA and amphetamine when his home was raided. The JEP has chosen not to identify the defendant.
Customs officers executed a warrant at the defendant’s home address in November 2020 and found a variety of controlled substances and other items including a laptop.
Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, told the Royal Court yesterday that after the laptop – which had a memory stick inserted into it – was switched on it was discovered to have a browser open on a dark web marketplace selling controlled drugs. The USB stick was later found to hold a program designed to anonymise computer use relating to the internet and emails.
Advocate Hallam told the court that examination of the youth’s mobile phone found several messages discussing cash and drug supply and a number of drug-related web searches and crypto-currency trading accounts – including evidence suggesting he had made online cannabis purchases.
Pictures depicting drug use, large amounts of cash, evidence of the purchase of hundreds of clear plastic zip-lock bags and a suspected Instagram and Snapchat advert for MDMA were also found on the device, along with a text document outlining plans for drug importation and dealing activities.
An expert witness valued the seized drugs seized at: two MDMA tablets with with a total value between £40 and £60, as well as 25.45 grams of amphetamine totalling between £1,500 and £2,000, 0.610 grams of amphetamine totalling between £30 and £40, 0.653 grams amphetamine totalling between £30 to £40 and half a tab of LSD worth between £10 and £15.
The defendant pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the possession offences and initially not guilty to the conspiracy offence, but submitted a basis of plea, admitting that he arranged for the importation of 35g of amphetamine and had an agreement with a friend to use their home address – explaining that when the drugs arrived he would collect them and pay the friend £200 and a few grams of amphetamine.
Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, highlighted her client’s struggle from an early age with his medical conditions, namely autism and ADHD, and told the court that the drugs were predominantly for his own ‘medical purposes’.
She added that it was ‘not unusual’ for the dark web to be involved with online drugs purchases and that the suspected ‘advert’ for the drugs referenced by the Crown was an example of ‘bravado’ on the part of the defendant to show off his drug use to friends.
She also pointed out that the plans found on the accused’s phone were not acted out.
Addressing the defendant directly after announcing the sentence, Sir William Bailhache, presiding, said: ‘At the end of the day, nobody except you can turn your life around,’ adding: ‘We take drug trafficking very seriously in this court.’
In addition to the community-service punishment, the defendant also received a 12-month probation order.
