A MAN ordered to complete 480 hours of community service last July for drug trafficking offences will continue his non-custodial sentence after the Court of Appeal heard his performance was “exemplary” and he was making “considerable progress” in putting his life back on track.
Jonathan Andrew Falle’s sentence was considered “unduly lenient” by the Attorney General, who had originally called for a custodial sentence of five-and-a-half years.
The Island’s senior prosecutor appealed the sentence to the Court of Appeal, which sat this week.
However, despite arguing that the Royal Court last year had given an excessive reduction in the starting point of sentence on account of personal mitigation, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, on behalf of the Attorney General, conceded that there was a strong argument not to vary the final sentence.
This is because, Advocate Maletroit said, Falle’s performance on community service was “exemplary”, he had completed half of it already, he had not missed a session, and he was determined to put his life back on track.
The court also heard that Falle had a new job since his sentencing and his employer had provided positive references.
So, despite Advocate Maletroit making further arguments about the Royal Court last July not putting enough weight on the high purity of the drugs that Falle has supplied, the Court of Appeal swifty judged that there was to be no change in the original non-custodial sentence.
