Isle of Man cannabis traffickers face harsher prison sentences

Submissions for the new guidelines were heard at Douglas Courthouse

People convicted of cannabis offences face harsher jail sentences on the Isle of Man after a landmark ruling.

It is the first update of sentencing guidelines for the trafficking of the Class B drug for almost 40 years.

There was a sharp rise in cannabis offences on the island between 2011 and 2020.

New sentencing bands based on weight have been introduced, including a starting eight-year tariff for importing more than 30kg of the drug.

The new sentences are higher than those in England and Wales but lower than the Channel Islands.

'Out of date'

Judge of Appeal Jeremy Storey QC and Deemster Alastair Montgomerie who announced the new guiding principles, said the 1982 guidelines were "clearly out of date".

They said the "consistently higher" street value of the drug on the island, compared to the UK, had attracted Merseyside drug traffickers to a "particularly lucrative market" worth more than £1m a year.

Arrests for serious Class B drug offences trebled and prosecutions doubled over the last ten years, with the number of juveniles involved rising from 2% to 20%, the court heard.

Seizures of herbal cannabis jumped to an all time high of 465 per year over the last decade and the total weight seized rose by 17,000%.

The new sentencing bands are:

• Up to 2kg - one to three years

• Between 2kg and 5kg - two to five years

• Between 5kg and 10kg - four to seven years

• Between 10kg and 30kg - six to nine years

• In excess of 30kg - eight to 14 years

Under previous guidelines only importing "massive quantities" of above 60kg led to a sentence of 10 years or more.