Delivery driver is drugs mule; MAN TOOK CANNABIS TO JERSEY TO PAY OFF DEBTS.Byline: TOM MULLEN A DELIVERY driver has been jailed in Jersey after he was caught smuggling drugs on to the island. Drugs mule Kevin Beattie Kevin Beattie (born Carlisle, Cumbria, December 18 1953) is an English former footballer, playing at central defence for both Ipswich Town and England in the 1970s and early 1980s. , 29, was locked up after being stopped with 10kg of cannabis resin he was trying to bring in to pay off a drug debt. A court in Jersey heard his cocaine habit and debts to a Tyneside loan shark had "spiraled out of control". Beattie, of Kenton, Newcastle, was stopped and questioned by customs officers at a harbour within minutes of arriving in the Channel Island, off the coast of France. Jersey's Royal Court heard the Tesco delivery driver immediately pointed them in the direction of the drugs, which were hidden inside a door. He told officers: "I might as well tell you. Take the panel off - they are in there." Beattie, who became hooked on cocaine while working in bars and clubs in Newcastle, later told officers he had agreed to import the drugs to pay off loans he had taken out to pay for his addic-tion. Hlater admitted that he had previously been hired by the same gang to collect drugs money from the island to take it back to Newcastle. Beattie, who was of previous good character, was jailed for 30 months after pleading guilty to importing cannabis resin. He faced no money-laundering charges in relation to the previous visit to smuggle smug·gle v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles v.tr. 1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties. 2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. cash out of the island. Chris Baglin, defending, said his client was co-operative with customs officers and added: "Mr Beattie is not a major cog in the importation machine. He had no personal gain from this other than the promise of the removal of debt from the loan shark. "He was merely trying in vain to free himself from spiraling debt." Imposing the 30-month sentence, the presiding Bailiff bailiff Officer of some U.S. courts whose duties include keeping order in the courtroom and guarding prisoners or jurors in deliberation. In medieval Europe, it was a title of some dignity and power, denoting a manorial superintendent or royal agent who collected fines and , Sir Philip Bailhache, who was sitting with Jurats JURATS, officers. In some English corporations, jurats are officers who have much the same power as aldermen in others. Stat. 1 Ed. IV. Stat. 2 & 3 Ed. VI. c. 30; 13 Ed. I., c. 26. Clapham said: "We accept that you got out of your depth with your dealings with the supplier and the loan shark." Speaking after the hearing, Steve Le Marquand Steve Le Marquand is an Australian actor. Nominated in 2006 for an AFI for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his part in Last Train To Freo, he is also known for his work in Two Hands, Vertical Limit and Kokoda alongside his stage work for Company B and the Sydney Theatre Company. , director of law enforcement at Jersey Customs, said: "Beattie was very co-operative with officials throughout and the court accepted that he had got out of his depth with drug addiction and dealings with a loan shark. "However, Jersey has a strict zero-tolerance approach to drug smuggling in any form, and any individual or individuals who endeavour to bring illegal drugs to the island will be prosecuted with the full force of the law.'' |
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