A 25-YEAR-OLD woman who arrived in Jersey with cocaine worth up to £23,000 for ‘personal use’ while on a romantic getaway with her partner has been jailed.
Rosie Massay, from Manchester, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to importing 105g of the class A drug on 3 August. Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, told the Royal Court yesterday that Massay had travelled from Birmingham to Jersey and was stopped by Customs officers.
‘The defendant told the officers that they had flown over for a romantic weekend, which they had booked a couple of days before travel, and that they were staying at the Savoy Hotel,’ said Advocate Carvalho.
Massay was searched and the drugs were found in her pocket. When asked what it was, she replied that it was ‘coke’. ‘The defendant stated that she booked the travel for her and her partner using her mother’s bank cards and that this was her fifth visit to Jersey,’ Advocate Carvalho said.
The court heard that Massay used cocaine every two to three weeks and that both her partner and mother disapproved of her drug habit. She claimed the cocaine, which had a purity of 81%, was for personal use, but Advocate Carvalho described her as a ‘drugs courier’ whose ‘unsophisticated concealment’ suggested that she was well trusted in her role.
Advocate Julian Gollop, defending, maintained that Massay was carrying the drugs for personal use. Advocate Gollop also said his client had no previous convictions, supportive family members and a good employment record.
Commissioner Sir William Bailhache said that Massay was involved as a courier in a commercial importation and did not agree that the drugs were for personal use. He added that Massay’s guilty plea was all but inevitable.
Jurats Anne Crill, Elizabeth Dulake, David Hughes, Andrew Cornish and Charles Blampied were sitting.
