SHAME SHAME...


A chauffeur has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling 15 kilos of a drug with a combined effect similar to ecstasy and LSD. The Bexley Times reports that Stephen Leon, 40, from Chisle- hurst, was given the jail term at Canterbury Crown Court


CHISLEHURST CHAUFFEUR JAILED FOR SMUGGLING CLASS A DRUG When


questioned, last


month for smuggling 2C-B. The court heard Leon, driving a British regis- tered Lexus, was stopped by UK Border Agency officers at the Channel Tunnel en- trance in Coquelles, France on July 28, 2010.


Leon said he had been to France and Belgium looking at churches and had stopped in Calais to pick up some beer. Officers searched the vehicle and found eight cases of beer in the boot. The cases were X-rayed before one of the cans was opened and found to contain orange tablets. The drugs weighed approximately 15 kilos when removed from the cans and had an estimated street value of £300,000. Leon denied a charge of drug smuggling but was found guilty by a


JAIL FOR KIDDERMINSTER DRIVER WHO ABUSED CHILD


jury. Afterwards, Malcolm Bragg, the UK Border Agency’s criminal and financial


assistant


director, said: “I hope the sentence handed out here shows that we and our law enforce- ment colleagues are serious about tackling the criminals responsi- ble for bringing illegal drugs into Britain. “The UK Border Agency has robust controls in place and this


investigation


shows that we will not hesitate to take the strongest


possible


action against those involved in drug smug- gling.”


GUILTY PLYMOUTH DRIVER FACES JAIL FOR KILLING PENSIONER ON CROSSING


A taxi driver dubbed “an amber gambler” killed a Plymouth pen- sioner on a pedestrian crossing, a jury has ruled. Now Andrew Bates is facing almost certain jail after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. Gordon Hollister, 76, died on December 13 2010 when he was hit by Bates’ private hire vehicle on a pedestri- an-controlled crossing Prosecutor Jo Martin told the jury: “He (Bates) was an amber gambler; he was taking a chance. The light changed to red and he kept on going. “It was a deliberate decision by him to overtake


and go


through the lights, and tragedy was the result.” The Plymouth Herald reports that Bates, 44,


had denied the charge and a lesser alternative of causing death by careless driving. The judge granted him unconditional bail but imposed an interim driving ban. He also asked Miss Martin to tell the jury about Bates’ previous driving convictions. These included contra- vening a pedestrian crossing while station- ary in 2008, speeding at 40mph in a 30mph limit and 74mph in a 50mph limit and having his taxi licence withdrawn for vehicle defects. During the trial, the jury heard that Bates drove through a red light in his eight-seater Ford Tourneo after acceler- ating to overtake a cement mixer as he saw Mr Hollister poised to cross the road. The pensioner, from


Southway, was cross- ing a two-lane stretch of Tavistock Road fol- lowing a visit to the nearby Tesco super- store


at around


10.45am when the accident happened. The jury heard from several eye-witnesses and was also shown graphic photographs of the crash scene. Bates, the only defence witness, told the court he was “almost sure” the traffic lights were green. He said he was not in a hurry and claimed Mr Hollister failed to look before stepping out in front of him. MPc Bedson said: “We are satisfied that the jury has reached the correct verdict. “The people of Ply- mouth should be able to use the roads and crossings without fear.”


A taxi driver who sexu- ally abused a young boy over an eight-year period has been jailed for four years. According to the Express and Star, Stephen Walker, 51, from Kidderminster, pleaded guilty at Worcester


Crown


Court to eight counts of


indecent assault


and eight of indecency with a child. Walker, who was ordered to sign on the sex offender register for life, had lived a law- abiding life before and after the offences, said Ms Abigail Nixon, defending. He was full of shame and his imprisonment would cause his elder-


ly mother to suffer. He was a member of a church and elderly members would miss his help. Judge Patrick Thomas QC said Walker had accepted he was guilty of offences committed 20 years ago. But he had damaged the life of a young man and made him miserable for years.


COVENTRY CABBIE JAILED AFTER JACKET FOUND WITH £49K OF DRUGS IN LINING


A Coventry taxi driver who was sent a jacket with £49,000 worth of heroin hidden in the lining has been jailed for a total of four and a half years. Lakbir Basra pleaded guilty at the Crown Court at Leamington to being involved in the illegal importation of heroin. The 42-year-old also admitted to two similar charges in relation to the class B drug phe- nobarbytol and the class C drug Alprazo- lam, which he had received in previous packages from India. Prosecutor


Mike


Conry said that on July 27 Border Agency officers


at the


Parcelforce depot in Coventry intercepted a parcel addressed to Basra’s home. It contained a black men’s jacket – but when they cut it open they found eight pack- ages in the lining. An analysis showed the packages con- tained 982 grams of heroin with a street value of at £49,000.


least


The police were told, and after the heroin was replaced with a harmless powder, the parcel was re-sealed and delivered to Basra’s home. Basra answered the door and signed for the parcel. Police moved in and began a search of the house. As well as the jacket, they found eight black plastic packages in an area where the chil- dren’s school bags were kept. Those packages con- tained 166 grams of Alprazolam and six packages of a mixture of paracetamol and caffeine. The officers also found nine packages weigh- ing 908 grams of phenobarbytol. Sukhdev


Garcha,


defending, said the other two drugs were powerful


sedatives


which can be used to ‘bulk up’ heroin. Arguing that Basra’s role was akin to a courier, he said: “He is a hard-working man who has been in this country for 16 years. “He fell into debt and


tried to keep the extent of the debt from his family and, in fear of losing the family home, when he was approached he took part in what is before Your Honour.” Recorder Malcolm Morse jailed Basra for three and a half years for the heroin offence, with a consecutive 12- month sentence in relation to the other two drugs. He told Basra: “You have pleaded guilty to three crimes that con- cern the importation of forbidden drugs. “The drugs in the sec- ond and third charges are not only drugs in themselves, but are sometimes used in mixing with heroin. “Mr Garcha has said I should treat you as if you were a courier of these drugs. I don’t agree. “In my judgement you are an important and necessary part of the chain of supply into this country, although you are closer to the street dealers than you are to the whole- sale suppliers.”


PRIVATE HIRE &


RICOH ARENA COVENTRY Sponsored by


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