A 23-YEAR-OLD “numpty” who admitted several “unsophisticated” attempts to use forged banknotes at Island shops has been jailed for 15 months.
Tyler Colin Ahier appeared before the Royal Court yesterday to be sentenced for seven charges of using notes which he knew to be forged.
Delivering the court’s sentence, the Bailiff, Robert MacRae said “this is a serious crime” because it is important that there is “public confidence in currency circulating on the Island”.
The court heard he committed the offences over a ten-day period in November, starting when he tried to pay for drinks at St James’s Wine Bar in St Helier with three £20 English notes.
It was discovered after a DJ who was paid £120 in cash by the bar encountered issues when depositing the wages in his bank.
After this, the owner of the bar reviewed the contents of his till containing the takings of the evening and early hours, and discovered two more counterfeit £20 bank notes.
He confirmed that the only English banknotes received by the bar were those handed in by Ahier.
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.
These included using forged money to buy low value items like confectionary, a multi-pack of tuna, cans of Stella Artois.
In the final seventh offence, he was unsuccessful in using the forged cash to pay for the goods at a Morrisons store.
When he tried to buy milk with it, the staff at the till recognised the cash was counterfeit “due to anomalies in its appearance”.
Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, said Ahier was, as he describes himself, a “numpty”, who didn’t carry out the crimes in a “sophisticated” way.
He has “always had difficulty in seeing into the future”, only being able to focus on putting the next foot on the ground in front of him, his lawyer said.
It was heard Ahier says the counterfeit notes were given to him “cash in hand” for his work which his defense lawyer said shows he is distant from its original source.
Advocate Baglin also highlighted that Ahier has ADHD and a mental illness that affect his decision making.
Initially Ahier had pleaded not guilty. It wasn’t “until the 11th hour” – as the Bailiff described it – that he pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial.
While Mr MacRae said there was “no strong or exceptional mitigation” that could have helped him stay out of jail, the Bailiff said he took his young age into account.
Although the Crown proposed he be sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, he was sentenced to the slightly shorter jail time.
Jurats Heuzé and Berry were sitting.
