‘I’ve been blown away by kindness and generosity’
A MAN who was convicted of a drug offence involving cannabis has received sympathy from islanders in the form of donations to pay his fine.
Taxi driver Henry Hulme appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on Monday after admitting two charges of possessing the class B drugs cannabis resin and cannabis.
He had been prescribed pain medication for an injury to his back from several years ago, but his job as a taxi driver meant he spent long hours in the cab and at the end of a working day suffered a certain amount of pain, for which he took cannabis.
Since being arrested he had started sea swimming as a means of dealing with the pain, the court heard.
After his court appearance, Mr Hulme received an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ response on social media.
‘During lockdown I did a lot of work for the community, delivering people’s food, picking things up for people, doing their shopping so they did not have to leave their houses as I was considered an essential worker,’ he said.
‘This meant I had pretty glowing character references in court.’
Although he holds his hands up for the crime of which he was convicted, he believed Judge Garry Perry had been fair.
He was given a fine of £600, but someone had got in touch with him about making a donation to contribute towards this cost because they saw him as a good guy.
Although he was hesitant at first, this began to gain momentum and lots of people on the Guernsey Cannabis Reform Group on Facebook began making donations.
Donations ranged from a couple of pounds to hundreds of pounds.
‘It has been so unbelievably touching,’ he said.
‘Not one person has messaged me saying I’m an idiot, I have just been blown away by the kindness and
generosity of people in Guernsey.’
While the arrest and sentencing had been a distressing time for him, Mr Hulme said the kindness on the back of this experience has given him a massive lift.
‘I don’t even know 95% of the people who donated – I am so blown away by it all, it’s staggering,’ he said.
Now the total donations have added up to around £1,000, he is dubious about using the money to help towards his legal fees and instead is considering donating the excess to the Guernsey Drug Strategy Campaign.
