Acquitted of cannabis importation
Sonn Macmillan Walker represented a Dutch lorry driver accused of conspiracy to import 141kg of cannabis amongst his flower deliveries.
He was observed by police in a motorway service station car park handing over boxes to another individual. The transaction was intercepted by the police and the boxes of flowers were found to contain blocks of cannabis with a total weight of 141kg. Their estimated total street value was £1.4 million.
Our client’s case was that he was a legitimate flower seller but had been illegally importing tobacco to earn some additional money to cover his travel expenses. He accepted his guilt in respect of the evasion of duty on the tobacco but denied agreeing to import cannabis.
The prosecution accepted pleas to fraudulent evasion of duty on the tobacco. Our client received full credit for his pleas and received a 16 month prison sentence which was suspended, meaning our client kept his liberty. This was an excellent result. If he had been convicted of the conspiracy to import the cannabis he could have expected to receive a sentence of several years.
Chris Stevens had conduct of our client’s case and Kevin Barry of 36 Crime Chambers was the barrister.
