Section 6(1)(c) - Supplies Class A or Class B controlled drug Flashcards
What is the penalty for 6(1)(c)?
Section 6(1)(c):
- Class A: Life
- Classs B: 14 years imprisonment
What are the ingredients of S6(1)(c)?
1) No person shall -
2) Supply or administer
OR
Offer to supply or administer
3) Any Class A controlled drug or Class B controlled drug
4) To any other person
5) Or otherwise deal in any such controlled drug
How is supply defined in S2 of MODA?
Supply includes distribute, give or sell.
What else does the definition of supply extend to?
It includes conferring on the recipient the ability to use the drugs for his or her own purposes.
What is the key case law with regards to supply?
R v Maginnis (1987)
R v Maginnis (1987)
(It’s ‘mah friend’s Guinness. He was coming back to pick it up’).
“[Supply involves] more than the mere transfer of physical control … [it includes] enabling the recipient to apply the thing … to purposes for which he desires …”
What was the gist of Maginnis?
The House of Lords held that the return of drugs to the friend would have restored the friend’s ability to use the drugs for his own purposes, and the defendant therefore had the necessary intent for supply.
What is distribution?
The supply of drugs to multiple people.
R v Donald
(After investing in Wilson parking buildings, Donald Trump is now sitting in his Trump Towers with a mountain of cocaine for supply)
Supply includes the distribution of jointly owned property between its co-owners.
Application: Distribution (drug dealing)
What is the gist of Donald?
That supply includes the distribution of jointly owned property between its co-owners.
When is distribution complete?
When the defendant has done all that is necessary to accomplish delivery of the drug to others.
What is giving?
Giving involves the handing over or in some other way transferring an item to another person.
When is giving complete?
When the recipient accepts possession, or where the drug is placed under the control of a willing recipient.
R v Knox
(Knox - No X - giving the X back to it’s original possessor)
“A person who is in unlawful possession of a controlled drug, which has been deposited for safekeeping, has the intent to supply that drug to another if his intention is to return the drug to the person who deposited it with him.”
Application: Giving
What is the gist of Knox?
A person who is in unlawful possession of a controlled drug, which has been deposited for safe keeping, has the intent to supply that drug to another if his intention is to return the drug to the person who deposited it with him.
R v Wildbore
(scenario - out in the WILD with the boar, shed on property, key in hiding spot, LSD kept in shed … tells offender where the key is and permits them to access the drugs)
A “passive custodian” who relinquishes custody of a drug to meet the needs of another, has the necessary intent for supply.
Application: intent to supply (drug dealing)
What is the gist of Wildbore?
It is sufficient if there is a transfer of physical custody for the purpose of meeting the wants or requirements of the other person.
What is selling?
When a quantity or share in a drug is exhanged for some valuable consideration.
Anything of value will suffice - for example exhanging a large quantity of cannabis for some real estate.
What is administering?
Black’s Law Dictionary:
” … to direct and cause a … drug to be taken into the system” of another person.
What are some examples of administering?
- Injecting a person with heroin
- Heating cannabis resin between two knife blades while another person inhales the smoke
- Causing a person to consume a date rape drug by slipping it into their drink without their knowledge.
What two elements must the prosecution prove regarding offering to supply or administer?
- The communicating of an offer to supply or administer a controlled drug (the actus reus).
- An intention that the other person believes the offer to be genuine (the mens rea).
R v During (1973)
(During this time I can now offer to supply you drugs)
Application: offer to supply
“[An offer is] an intimation by the person charged to another that he is ready on request to supply to that other, drugs of a kind prohibited by the statute.”
Application: offer to supply
R v Brown (1978)
(H G M C - High Girls Motorcycle Club)
The defendant is guilty in the following instances:
(1) offers to supply a drug that he has on hand
(2) offers to supply a drug that will be procured (that he can get) at some future date
(3) offers to supply a drug that he mistakenly believes he can supply
(4) offers to supply a drug deceitfully (cunningly), knowing he will not supply that drug.
**
“… The making of such an intimation, with the intention that it should be understood as a genuine offer, is an offence.”
Application: Offer to supply
What is the gist of R v Brown?
On hand / procured / mistakenly / deceitfully
What four propositions did the Court of Appeal set out in R v Marr and Wilkinson?
- Offer to supply is to be given its ordinary meaning and not any technical meaning.
- There may be more than one person guilty of ‘offering to supply’ in any one transaction.
- An intermediary/agent may be guilty of ‘offering to supply’ his/her own principal.
- Offer to supply in S6 and S7 of MODA has a wide meaning and includes an offer to arrange for someone else to hand over a drug to the person to be supplied
How can an offer to supply be conveyed?
In any manner including by words, writing or gestures.
Is it necessary for the Crown to prove the defendant had the capacity to supply the drugs?
No.
What is the purpose of ‘otherwise deals with’ and give an example.
This is aimed at dealing in a drug by some means other than by distributing/giving etc.
Example: barter or exchange.
