Saturday 24 November 2012
On Friday 23 November 2012, 21 year old Sidney Caine Howitt (pictured), appeared before the Royal Court where he was sentenced to a total of five years and eight months imprisonment for the importation of 96.94 grams of the Class B controlled drug Mephedrone, following action taken by the Guernsey Border Agency.
The drugs had a potential resale value of between £5,800 and £7,760.
On Wednesday 18 July 2012, Guernsey Border Agency Officers stopped Howitt as he arrived in the island from Poole on a Condor ferries sailing. Howitt, an unemployed resident of Weymouth, stated that he was travelling alone and had come to Guernsey to celebrate his 21st birthday with a friend locally who he had met on Facebook and through online gaming.
Upon further questioning, Howitt told the officers that he was carrying drugs internally. Whilst in custody, Howitt produced four packages that contained the Mephedrone.
In sentencing, Judge Finch said that the Court was sorry that drugs had clearly ruined the life of Howitt, and sees the misery of drug use day after day, but it was time to "wise up and take responsibility".
