Patrick Fitzsimons (43), who admitted importing the cannabis at Elizabeth Harbour, where it was found hidden in the spare wheel of his car, was jailed for two and a half years.Crown Advocate Cyril Whelan said that Fitzsimons could not claim naivety as he knew the type of drug which he was importing.Fitzsimons told police that he had brought the drugs into Jersey for someone else and was to await contact on his arrival.Advocate Whelan said that Fitzsimons had been arrested at the Harbour while he was on parole for a previous drug trafficking offence in the UK.
He would be returned there to serve a nine-month sentence after completing the term in the Island.Counsel for Fitzsimons, Advocate David Hopwood, said that his client had committed the recent offence against a background of intolerable personal circumstances and duress.
A friend who had loaned Fitzsimons £7,000 for a dual business venture had committed suicide and a known criminal had been putting pressure on him for the return of that money which he claimed had come from him.Describing Advocate Hopwood’s submissions as powerful, the Deputy Bailiff, Michael Birt, said that the court agreed with both advocates that Fitzsimons’s guilty plea had been of value and the court regarded him as a candidate for mercy.Mr Birt was sitting with Jurats de Veulle, Rumfitt, Bullen, Georgelin, Allo and Clapham.
