A 22-YEAR-OLD man has been warned he is likely to face a prison sentence after admitting several “unsophisticated” attempts to use forged banknotes at Island shops.
Tyler Ahier appeared before the Royal Court yesterday to face seven charges of using notes which he knew to be forged. Having previously pleaded not guilty on all counts, he changed his pleas to guilty and was ordered to return to court to be sentenced on 27 February.
Crown Advocate Jordan Gollop, prosecuting, said the offences had taken place over a ten-day period in November 2024, starting when Ahier had attempted to pay for drinks at St James’s Wine Bar in St Helier with three £20 English notes.
The court heard that the remaining six charges involved the use of single £20 notes at Coop and Morrisons stores at various locations in St Peter, St Clement, St Saviour and St Helier.
Advocate Gollop said that given the likelihood of a custodial sentence, the Crown was calling for Ahier to be remanded in custody for what he described as an “unsophisticated but mendacious” scheme.
Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, argued that his client’s offending was at the “lower end” of the scale.
“He is not some ‘king-pin’ or a person who has printed money,” he said.
While conceding that a prison term was the likely outcome, Advocate Baglin said the court did have the discretion to be “merciful” given the approach of Christmas and lobbied for Ahier to be released on bail pending his sentencing hearing.
However Commissioner Sir Timothy Le Cocq, presiding with Jurats Cornish and Berry, ruled that precedents should be followed and that the court did not consider there were any exceptional circumstances to give grounds for a release on bail. Ahier was therefore remanded in custody ahead of being sentenced.
