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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Dalessandro, R v [2008] EWCA Crim 1501 (7 May 2008) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2008/1501.html Cite as: [2008] EWCA Crim 1501, [2009] 1 Cr App Rep (S) 29, [2009] 1 Cr App R (S) 29 |
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CRIMINAL DIVISION
Strand London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MR JUSTICE TREACY
SIR PETER CRESSWELL
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R E G I N A | ||
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VINCENZO DALESSANDRO |
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Mr M Brookes-Baker appeared on behalf of the Crown
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Crown Copyright ©
"The defendant pleads guilty to the counts of possession of GHB and the anabolic steroids with intent to supply on the following basis:
A. He had for many years been a competitive body builder. In 2004, after a break, he decided to resume competition.
B. He had obtained significant quantities of steroids with a view to using them over the following year building up to competition in 2006.
C. He accepts that he intended to supply some of the steroids within a small group of experienced competitive body builders. All had previously used steroids. He denies selling steroids to general users of his gym.
D. Similarly with the GHB he accepts that he intended to use this himself but also to provide to the same small restricted group of fellow body builders.
E. The GHB (count 16) was present in the store room in December 2004. It was not found/seized by the police until the search in March. The defendant had not acquired them in the interim period."
"I give you credit for your pleas of guilty, albeit made on the morning of the trial. I bear in mind the basis of plea. I bear in mind the possession of GHB and the steroid drugs is not an offence in itself. I also bear in mind paragraphs C and D of your basis of plea, that you were supplying the drugs to a group of body builders. However, once you had supplied the drugs you must have known that you would have had no control over the subsequent use of the drugs. Some of these drugs could have had serious potential side effects. For example, GHB, of which you had a very large quantity for supply, can be used to produce euphoria and lack of inhibition with all the problems attached to that.
As to count 16, I appreciate that these drugs were present at the time of the first police search. Nevertheless, the fact remains that you failed to get rid of the drugs even though you knew you had already been arrested. The amount of drugs in question is very large. There were over 10 kilograms of GHB alone. The value of the drugs is somewhere between £14,000 and £80,000.
I bear in mind all the points in mitigation and the references put before me. I bear in mind your previous good character. Nevertheless, there must be a substantial custodial sentence..."
• 12th March 2005 first appearance at Kettering Magistrates Court.
• 11th May 2005 original date for committal hearing, prosecution papers not ready and case put back for seven days.
• 18th May 2005 papers still not ready, case discharged.
• 27th April 2007 Crown Prosecution Service indicate that they intend to resurrect the case.
• 12th June 2007 case committed to Northampton Crown Court.
When allowance is made for the inexcusable and inordinate delay, the overall sentence should in our view be reduced to 18 months. For these reasons for the consecutive sentence in respect of count 16 we substitute a concurrent sentence of 18 months' imprisonment. Thus the total sentence becomes 18 months. To this extent the appeal is allowed.