Green Hill man jailed for drugs

For the next 12 months, 22-year-old Green Hill resident Kyle Small will call prison his home.

Small, who was charged on three separate counts of possession of 6,461 grammes of cannabis, possession of 6, 461 g of cannabis for the purpose of exportation, and possession with the intent{{more}} of drug trafficking, was sentenced to 12 months on each charge, at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

The sentences will run concurrently.

According to the facts, on August 27, sometime after 9 p.m., acting on information, members of the Narcotics unit were dispatched to the ET Joshua Airport.

Small was approached by the officers and after consenting to a search on his luggage, 13 black packages were found — one of which an officer cut into and found the illegal substance.

At the time, Small, who was booked to travel on a flight to Barbados, denied knowing how the 6,461 grammes of cannabis had got into his suitcase, which also contained car freshener.

In his mitigation, Small’s counsel Grant Connell told the court that his client had not wasted the court’s time, and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

“He throws himself at the court and begs for mercy. The drug is worth a value of about $7,000,” Connell said, adding that it is time we end the hypocrisy in the laws of the land.

Connell suggested that if magistrate Carla James was to impose a custodial sentence on his client, that it be a suspended one.

“You are well within the ambit of the law of giving him a chance. This is not cocaine. There is a lot of this (cannabis) in the hills, and we have more to come down.

“We can’t fill our jails. People have bills to pay. I ask the court to extend a great deal of leniency,” Connell implored.

In her response, the magistrate said the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigation factors.

She said the drugs were properly processed and packed and that it was clearly premeditated.

James said she was also mindful of his early guilty plea.