A MAN who stole class A drugs from a friend to bring them to Jersey has been jailed for 18 months by the Island’s Royal Court.
Abdul Haque (49) travelled to Jersey on 13 December, hoping to work for his brother while recovering from addiction.
He pleaded guilty to two offences of importing class A drugs after he was found with 5.62g of heroin – estimated to be worth up to £2,500 – and 250g of liquid methadone.
Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, said Haque had been caught with the methadone at the Harbour, and that he was taken to hospital after he appeared “lethargic and struggling to keep his eyes open”.
Three days later, he produced a pack of heroin.
All of the drugs were for personal use, the advocate said – but they still added to the amount of drugs in the Island and meant that there were “more drugs available for the other members of the Island community”, he said.
He asked for an 18-month sentence.
Advocate Heidi Heath, defending, said that since Haque had already served the equivalent of a six-month sentence while he was waiting to be sentenced, his sentence should be as close to six months as possible.
In a letter the judge described as “frank”, Haque said that he had been recovering from addiction, and that he had hoped to come to Jersey as there are few drugs in the Island.
He had been addicted since he was 25 and had sought help before and lost friends to heroin addiction – which caused him to relapse.
He was prescribed methadone to help him recover from addiction.
“There are not a lot of drugs over here,” he wrote on coming to live and work with his brother.
“I stand a very good chance of having a normal life with his help.”
But, shortly before he came to Jersey, Haque said he “did panic” that he wouldn’t be able to get a prescription right away when he came over.
“The night before I left, I went to my old friend’s flat and grabbed as much stash as I could [so that] I would be able to last until I got the help I needed,” he said.
“I put myself in a worse position and I embarrassed my hard-working brother.”
The drugs would last him about eight days, the court heard.
The Deputy Bailiff, Mark Temple, said on handing down the sentence that the reason Jersey had such a small number of drugs was “in part” because of the court’s typically strict sentencing policy on drug importation.
A prison term would help Haque become “truly drug-free”, he added.
In 2024, the Royal Court made a move towards using lower starting points for those who import drugs for personal use, when it calculated a woman’s sentence from 18 months rather than the typical seven years.
But a Court of Appeal case involving a 33-year-old woman later that year superseded it – though it still allowed for low custodial sentences and community service for low-level drug importation.
Haque was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for the heroin and eight months, running concurrently, for the methadone.
The Deputy Bailiff was presiding, sitting with Lieutenant-Bailiff Ronge and Jurat Gardener.
