JACKSON-BAILEY: BORDER AGENCY CASE WORKER SPARED JAIL FOR DRUGS STASH
A Crown Prosecution Service worker who stashed drugs under the noses of Britain’s top lawyers has walked free from court.
Michael Prince Jackson-Bailey, 31, took potent skunk cannabis to CPS headquarters where some of the UK’s most serious criminal cases are prepared.
The wraps were found in a rucksack under his desk where he worked on UK Border Agency cases striving to bring drug smugglers to justice.
The case administrator who was sacked on the spot from his job at Rose Court, near London Bridge, had previously worked for Revenue and Customs teams for eight years.
The day after his arrest he was alleged to have told bosses he had been dealing to people in the office including two lawyers.
But following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, jurors found him guilty of simple possession, clearing him of supply.
Jackson-Bailey, who has been smoking skunk since he was 15, claimed he was the victim of a racist plot to oust him.
The judge, Mr Recorder Camden Pratt QC, handed him a community order with 80 hours’ unpaid work and told him: ‘I regard the fact that you had cannabis at work as an aggravating feature.
‘The public has trust in the CPS and the UK Border Agency to enforce the laws of this country in relation to illicit drugs.
‘That trust is damaged and the reputation of the service is damaged when employees take illicit drugs into the very agency that has charge of the prevention of this importation.
‘In my judgment the loss of your employment is perhaps your biggest punishment.
‘You are an intelligent man and your colleagues spoke highly of your abilities.
‘You have lost a lot from cannabis.
‘It dominated your life from the age of 15.
‘Don’t let it ruin your life.’
Jackson-Bailey was arrested after police spotted him behaving suspiciously near an alley in the centre of Brixton on February 3.
When patrolling officers searched him they found two wraps of cannabis in his pocket.
They searched his home and discovered ten bundles of cannabis worth around £250, scales and three mobile phones on which he was alleged to have received texts from clients.
After appearing before magistrates the following day, he went to the office and discussed the matter with his boss, senior prosecutor Tania November.
She told jurors Jackson-Bailey did not want to be the only one punished and confessed to her he passed drugs to people in the office.
Miss November said: ‘He started by saying that he was upset about the decision because he was “taking the rap” for others.
‘In other words, in his account, others were involved.
‘He said that the cannabis he had was in order to give to others in my office.
‘He said that he did not wish to give names. I asked him whether there was going to be some pretty nervous people in the office today and he said “yes”.’
Benn (corr) Maguire, prosecuting, said the issue for the jury was whether Mr Jackson-Bailey intended to supply any of the drugs found in a rucksack at the CPS offices.
Jackson-Bailey initially named two lawyer as as two people who received the cannabis, but in court he denied the claims.
The two lawyers are currently being investigated over the allegations.
Jackson-Bailey even suggested to jurors Miss November was a cocaine user.
Jonathan White, defending, claimed that the bosses had fabricated the confession.
Jackson-Bailey, of Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, se London, admitted possessing class B drugs, but denied two further counts of possession of a class B drug with intent to supply and was cleared.
He was convicted of simple possession in relation to the second two counts.
Jackson-Bailey gave his own closing speech for the defence after his lawyer withdrew, leaving him unrepresented.
He claimed he bought the scales so he could measure whether his own dealers were ‘being fair.’
