THE offer of £1,000 to pick up a package of heroin proved too tempting for Richard Clarke. He was yesterday sentenced alongside Tristrum Leivars to six-and-a-half years in prison for being involved in importing 112 grams of the Class A drug with a street value of up to £33,600.

The pair were caught after a Customs surveillance operation at the Town flat to which the drugs were posted.

They both admitted the offence, with Clarke being sentenced to a further two years for burglary and three counts of dishonestly assisting in the retention of stolen goods, including money taken from HM Sheriff’s Office.

He admitted these four offences and asked for another 22 other burglaries to be taken into consideration.

‘Heroin is a very serious, addictive drug, and we have the overriding duty to protect people from its misuse,’ Lt-Bailiff Russell Finch said in sentencing.

‘Those that are concerned with the importation of Class A drugs for financial gain must be seriously punished.’

Prosecuting, Crown Advocate Graham McKerrell said that a Customs officer examining the mail found a padded bag containing 112 grams of brown powder. It had been sent from Southampton.

A dummy package was delivered to the intended multiple-occupancy address the same morning. Customs officers saw the two defendants walking along St George’s Esplanade at about 1pm, before Clarke, 24, entered the flat and Leivars, 26, sat on a wall outside.

The court heard that they left and the package remained but had been moved.

The pair soon returned. Both entered and then left. The package remained but had again been moved.

Less than a minute later, Clarke re-entered the flat wearing gloves while the co-defendant remained outside. This time, the package was taken.

Clarke turned and ran when officers approached while Leivars continued and was arrested.

Clarke was eventually found hiding in the bathroom of an empty flat at the premises from which he had picked the drugs.

Defending Clarke, Advocate Sara Mallett said thieving and burglary were a means of survival for him.

He had a history of repeated periods in custody and it was not surprising that progress had been slow due to all his formative years being shifted from one care home to another, added Advocate Mallett.

‘He chose to assist the police as much as possible and admit to those other burglaries,’ she said.

The drug importation was out of character, she added.

Clarke had been offered £1,000 by a third party to pick up the package: ‘It was an offence brought about by greed.’

‘It was mentioned to him a teenager could do the run, a 12- or 13-year-old was mentioned, but he said no.’

She added that Clarke said he would not have been able to face the parents of any child who might have become involved.

‘He was simply a donkey. He had no interest in the drugs,’ she said.

Defending Leivars, Advocate David Domaille asked the court to follow probation recommendations and impose a suspended sentence with a supervision order.

If not, it should take a lower starting point than those normally recommended, he said, because of his client’s ‘minor role’.

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Leivars had a drug problem for which he had been receiving help and was also getting prescription drugs for, said Advocate Domaille.

The first he knew about the heroin was when he was walking into Town with Clarke, he added.

‘He heard about what was happening, due to his state, as a result of the prescription drugs, he stupidly in his own words went along with it.’

Leivars acted only as a lookout, the court heard.

He had been involved in criminality for a long time, said Advocate Domaille, including importing small amounts of heroin and cannabis for personal use.

Leivars had suspended sentences activated, to run concurrently: one month suspended for two years in July 2004 for being a passenger in a stolen car; and two months suspended for two years in June 2004 for resisting police and not allowing a search.

Lt-Bailiff Finch said a starting point of 10 years was taken for the importation offences, with one-third discount given.

‘Both of you have extensive and poor records of previous convictions, noticeably for dishonesty,’ he said.

Clarke admitted being involved in a burglary of Dobbins Bookmakers where a safe was taken but later recovered.

He also admitted dishonestly assisting in the retention of stolen cash from Gallienne’s Bookmakers, mobile telephones from Gruts and foreign money from HM Sheriff’s office.

He was sentenced to two years in prison for each count, to run concurrently to each other but consecutively to the importation sentence.

Two other defendants in the importation matter had their cases adjourned sine die.