CRIMINAL CASE NO. 289 OF 2010
COURT: I have to sentence you for one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. Count 1 will lie on the file on the usual terms.
You will know perfectly well that guidelines are followed, based on the nature and quantity of the drug, when it comes to sentencing.
In your case, there were 113 grammes of heroin, 19 grammes of “Ice”, and there was under 3 grammes in all of cocaine, along with some pills of nimetazepam and a very small amount of nimetazepam, the latter drugs having no impact on the sentence today.
I shall, as is urged upon me in his written submissions tendered by your counsel, follow the combined approach when looking at the different drugs, and of course the major quantity here is for the heroin. The heroin guideline that is engaged is for a starting point after trial of 8 to 12 years for amounts of 50 to 200 grammes.
I have listened to the mitigation about your personal circumstances, and there can be no doubt that your life has been subject to some very difficult and tragic moments, and in arriving at my total sentence, I give what weight I can, in the circumstances, although personal considerations tend to be subsumed in the one-third discount for the plea of guilty. But the sentence is not all mathematics, and I will give those matters urged upon me due weight.
It is contended on your behalf that some of the drugs which were found in your flat and which you admitted you had for trafficking would have been consumed by you. You said that as well to the police at the time. Your record shows involvement with drugs, and the DNA evidence established that you had been using the inhaling devices found in the premises.
Accordingly, I shall reduce the starting point to acknowledge the fact that some of the drugs would have been consumed by yourself.
An aggravation is that you have previous convictions for trafficking. To a certain extent, that balances the fact that you were going to use some of the drugs yourself, because I have to balance the aggravation with the mitigation. Further aggravations obviously are the different sorts of drugs that are involved in the trafficking and the fact that you were more than just a courier.
I repeat, this is not just a matter of mathematics. It is a question of looking at the whole picture and everything that I know about you. The starting point would have been in excess of 10 years that the mathematics produces at the minimum, but because of the self-consumption element, I shall reduce that to a starting point of 9 years.
You earn a one-third discount for your plea of guilty, resulting in a sentence of 6 years’ imprisonment.