The Attorney General v Kieran Martin Thomas Walker, Grant Philip Adams and Aaron Sebastian Brannan

Superior Number Sentencing - drugs - importation of Class A and Class B drugs - perverting the course of justice - money laundering [2026]JRC006 Royal Court (Samedi) 7 January 2026 Before : R. J. MacRae, Esq., Bailiff, and Jurats Christensen, MBE, Dulake, Averty, Opfermann and Gardener The Attorney General -v- Kieran Martin Thomas Walker Grant Philip Adams Aaron Sebastian Brannan Sentencing by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, following a guilty plea to the following charges: Kieran Martin Thomas Walker 1 count of: Being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of goods contrary to Article 61(2)(b) of the Customs and Excise (Jersey) Law 199 (Count 1). 1 count of: Entering into or becoming concerned in an arrangement facilitating the acquisition, use, possession or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another contrary to Article 30(3) of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 (Count 2) Age: 32. Plea: Guilty. Details of Offence: On Thursday 4 September 2025, Brannan was stopped by customs officers on his arrival at Jersey airport on a flight from Liverpool. He declared some cash and was allowed to proceed. On Saturday 6 September 2025, Walker and Adams were arrested on their arrival into Jersey on a ferry from Portsmouth after Walker was found in possession of over 57 grams of cocaine. Walker said that they were meeting

a friend named Aaron (Brannan’s first name). Adams denied knowing about the importation, but following his arrest, a bag containing 0.9 grams of cannabis was found in his shoe. Messages between Walker and Brannan were found on Walker’s phone relating to meeting at the Royal Yacht Hotel and Walker asking Brannan to send money to Adams’ account for food on the boat and the hotel reservation. Several payments were made from Brannan to Adams in the days leading up to and on the day of the importation. On Sunday 7 September 2025, Brannan was arrested in Jersey airport departures hall. On his arrest he attempted to destroy his phone. A rucksack belonging to Brannan was found in the bar area of the airport and contained £2,409.55 in cash and several items bought from duty free. Details of Mitigation: Walker, Adams and Brannan had the benefit of guilty pleas at the first opportunity. Walker and Adams had no relevant previous convictions, were both cooperative with the investigation and expressed remorse. Previous Convictions: Walker has five previous convictions for unrelated offences when he was a juvenile. Conclusions: Count 1: Starting point of 9½ years’ imprisonment. 5 years and 9 months’ imprisonment. Count 2: 8 months’ imprisonment, consecutive. Total: 6 years and 5 months’ imprisonment. Forfeiture and destruction of drugs and mobile phones sought (except for Brannan’s phone to

be kept for further examination) Sentence and Observations of Court: Count 1: Starting point of 9 years’ imprisonment. 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. Count 2: 6 months’ imprisonment, concurrent. Total: 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. Confiscation agreed. Forfeiture and destruction of drugs and mobile phones ordered (except for Brannan’s phone to be kept for further examination) Grant Philp Adams 1 count of: Entering into or becoming concerned in an arrangement facilitating the acquisition, use, possession or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another contrary to Article 30(3) of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 (Count 2) 1 count of: Being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of goods contrary to Article 61(2)(b) of the Customs and Excise (Jersey) Law 199 (Count 3). Age: 45. Plea: Guilty. Details of Offence: (See Walker above) Details of Mitigation: (As above). Previous Convictions: Adams has 13 previous convictions for unrelated offences. Conclusions: Count 2: 7 months’ imprisonment.. Count 3: No separate penalty. Total: 7 months’ imprisonment. Forfeiture and destruction of drugs and mobile phones sought (except for Brannan’s phone to be kept for further examination) Sentence and Observations of Court: Count 2: 6 months’ imprisonment. Count 3: No separate penalty. Total: 6 months’

imprisonment. Confiscation agreed. Forfeiture and destruction of drugs and mobile phones ordered (except for Brannan’s phone to be kept for further examination) Aaron Sebastian Brannan 1 count of: Attempted removal of criminal property from the Island of Jersey, pursuant to Article 31(1)(d) of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 contrary to Article 1(1) of the Criminal Offences (Jersey) Law 2009 (Count 4). 1 count of: Perverting the course of justice (Count 5).. Age: 45. Plea: Guilty. Details of Offence: (See Walker above) Details of Mitigation: Brannan had the benefit of early guilty pleas at the first opportunity. Previous Convictions: Brannan has 65 previous convictions, but none relating to drug trafficking or money laundering. Conclusions: Count 4: 15 months’ imprisonment.. Count 5: 9 months’ imprisonment, consecutive. Total: 2 years’ imprisonment. Forfeiture and destruction of drugs and mobile phones sought (except for Brannan’s phone to be kept for further examination) Sentence and Observations of Court: Count 4: 9 months’ imprisonment. Count 5: 9 months’ imprisonment, consecutive. Total: 18 months’ imprisonment. Confiscation adjourned. Forfeiture and destruction of drugs and mobile phones ordered (except for Brannan’s phone to be kept for further examination) L. Sette, Crown Advocate. Advocate J-A. C. Dix for Defendant Walker. Advocate C. R. Baglin for Defendant Adams. Advocate I. C. Jones for Defendant Brennan.

JUDGMENT THE BAILIFF: 1. We reserve the right to add or amend these remarks.

2. Kieran Walker, you are 32 years old and fall to be sentenced on Counts 1 and 2 of this indictment. You pleaded guilty at your first appearance before the Magistrate’s Court and have no relevant previous convictions - indeed you have not been convicted of any offence as an adult.

3. Grant Adams, you are 45 years old and the brother of Mr Walker. You appear before the Court to be sentenced on Counts 2 and 3 on the Indictment. You, too, pleaded guilty to the charges at the first opportunity and you, too, have no relevant previous convictions.

4. Aaron Brannan, you are 34 years old and appear to be sentenced on Counts 4 and 5 of the Indictment. You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity as well. You have a significant criminal record and you are currently on licence in relation to a serious offence committed in Scotland which led to you appearing before the High Court in Glasgow in July 2015. You were sentenced to a period of 15½ years’ imprisonment - 10½ years for robbery and an extension period of 5 years for assault and robbery. That was an armed robbery of a jewellers where you were armed with a knife made to secure the compliance of victims. Subsequently in 2016, at Hamilton Sheriff Court, you were sentenced to a further 12 months’ imprisonment for a racially aggravated assault upon another prisoner and possession of an offensive weapon and then, subsequently having escaped from custody in December 2019, you were sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment at the Burnley Crown Court for offences of escaping from lawful custody, burglary and theft. You were released on licence on 4 April of last year and your coming to Jersey and possession of two mobile telephones, which we will come to in a moment, and this offending puts you in breach of your prison licence, and regardless of the sentence imposed by the Court today, you will be required to return to prison in the United Kingdom until at least 2031.

5. On 4 September last year, Mr Brannan was stopped by customs officers on his arrival in Jersey on a flight from Liverpool. After being made aware of the prohibitions and restrictions in Jersey, he declared cash totalling £600. He said he was in Jersey to visit a friend but did not have a return ticket and had not booked an hotel room. He was allowed to proceed.

6. Two days later, on 6 September, Walker and Adams arrived in Jersey by car from Portsmouth. Walker said they had come to Jersey until either the Sunday or Monday to see a friend named Aaron. Mr Walker was unsure of the surname and had to look it up on his mobile telephone before confirming it was ‘Brannan’. Walker said that they would be staying in an hotel that Brannan had booked. When asked if they had any controlled drugs they both said they had used cannabis the previous day, and Walker said he had used cocaine the previous week.

7. A scan of the steering wheel, door handle and a drink bottle in the car returned a positive test for cocaine. Walker said that he had cocaine in his underwear and produced a pouch which contained three Kinder egg containers containing cocaine. Adams said he did not have a clue that Walker was carrying the drugs and as Adams does not face any charge in relation to the importation of cocaine, it is clear the Crown accepted what he said.

8. The cocaine weighed 57.37 grams and had a purity of 87%. The wholesale value was between £5,000 and £6,000 and the street value between £8,600 and £14,000 or thereabouts. The street value per gram in Jersey is between £150 and £250.

9. Subsequent examination of Walker’s mobile telephone revealed messages between himself and Brannan relating to a meeting at the Royal Yacht Hotel, a reservation at another hotel, and Walker asking Brannan to send money to Adams’ Revolut account to book an hotel in Portsmouth as well as purchase food for the boat. There were various payments from Brannan in this regard.

10. On 7 September, Brannan was located at the airport departures hall and asked to go to a search room with a customs officer. He was asked if he was travelling with any cash and he said he had a bank card and between £20 and £40. He said he did not have a bag with him. He was arrested and whilst being handcuffed, he took hold of his mobile telephone and began to smash it against the table in an attempt to destroy it. This was captured on body-worn footage which we have seen. This action is represented by Count 5 of the Indictment, namely doing an act which has a tendency to pervert the course of justice – attempting to destroy his mobile telephone following arrest.

11. Later that afternoon, a rucksack attributable to Brannan was found in the bar area of departures and it contained, amongst other things, approximately £2,340 in cash, some sunglasses purchased at Duty Free that day worth over £250, together with documentation and a telephone linking the contents to Mr Brannan. An additional £70 in cash was seized from Mr Brannan making a total of £2,410.

12. When interviewed, Mr Walker said that he had paid £650 for two ounces of cocaine which he had packed himself in the three Kinder eggs, and that the cocaine was for personal use and to share with friends. He claimed he would consume approximately seven grams of cocaine on a night out. He said he had known Brannan for some time 5 years and that Brannan knew that Walker was coming to Jersey.

13. Both Walker and Adams provided codes allowing access to their mobile telephones. Nothing of note was recovered from Adams’ mobile telephone, but messages between Walker and Adams from Walker’s telephone suggested that he and his brother intended to come to Jersey for the purpose of collecting a sum of cash which would be split between them. This is reflected on Count 2 of the indictment.

14. On 7 September Adams, in a second police interview, said that he and Walker had come to Jersey to collect some cash and he accepted he must have assumed that the origin of the cash was criminal conduct.

15. When Brannan was interviewed on 8 September he made no comment save to say he accepted that the rucksack found in departures was his. He refused to sign a bank disclosure authority. When served a notice under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Jersey) Law 2005, Brannan provided incorrect PINS for access to the mobile telephone that was found in the rucksack and an incorrect PIN for the mobile telephone he had tried to destroy. That telephone has been sent to a laboratory in the UK for analysis. Brannan told customs officials that he had previously been involved in a car accident which had affected his short-term memory which was why he could not remember his access codes to the telephones.

16. Should the investigation into Brannan’s mobile telephone yield any further material of relevance, then Brannan may face further charges. Owing to his conviction on Count 5 it was considered not to be in the public interest to prosecute him for the failure to provide the access codes to his mobile telephones, as the charge at Count 5 deals in part with his conduct in attempting to prevent access to his mobile telephone.

17. In his final interview, Adams admitted that he had been asked to transport cash from Jersey back to the UK by his brother Mr Walker.

18. Count 1 is plainly the most serious count on this Indictment and having regard to the role of Mr Walker and the purity of the drugs, the Crown moves for a starting point of 9½ years’ imprisonment. The Crown and the defence accept the description of Mr Walker as a courier. We reject, and the Crown rejects, his assertion that he was simply going to use these drugs for his personal use, and he is being sentenced on the basis that the drugs were in fact going to be ultimately sold in Jersey. The Crown moves for a starting point of 9½ years’ imprisonment, as we have said, with a six months’ addition from the initial point of 9 years to reflect the purity. Whether or not to make an addition to a starting point on the grounds of purity is a matter of discretion for the sentencing court, and in the circumstances of this case we do not think it is appropriate to make that addition to the starting point, and accordingly the starting point is 9 years’ imprisonment on Count 1.

19. As to Count 3, owing to the very small amount of cannabis that was imported for Adams’ own use, the Crown does not seek a separate penalty.

20. As to Counts 2 and 4, the Crown has made submissions to us in accordance with the principles set out in AG v Goodwin [2016] JRC 165. As to the predicate offence in this case, the cash in question plainly came from drug trafficking, which all Defendants must have known. The amount of money involved in this case is not substantial and the way in which the cash was to be transported from the Island was not sophisticated. Having said that, such cash exports are essential if the unlawful importation of Class A drugs is to continue, and generally the Court takes the view that a custodial sentence is inevitable in such cases absent special circumstances.

21. Brannan’s offence of perverting the course of justice is also serious and the custody threshold is again passed. In AG v Nicolle [2020] JRC 201, the Court held an attempt to pervert the course of justice is always a serious offence and always, absence of special circumstances, will warrant a consecutive sentence. It is an offence which strikes at the heart of the justice system.

22. So we do, in accordance with usual principles, intend to pass a consecutive sentence in relation to the offence at Count 5. Brannan made an obvious attempt to destroy his mobile telephone when he knew he was being arrested because he feared the contents of his mobile telephone may incriminate him further, in our judgment.

23. All Defendants, as we have said, benefit from early pleas of guilty and will be given full credit for those pleas. But none of you are young men and all of you should have known better than to become involved in this serious offending.

24. Mr Walker has a substantial drug debt of £15,000 arising from consumption of cocaine and - if his account is true - he was spending up to £1,000 a week on cocaine when he was arrested, at a time when he was not working. He is at high risk of re-conviction. He has expressed remorse and we have read the letter that he has sent to the Court, and indeed his partner has sent to the Court, with some care. Today his counsel has described his involvement in this importation as being the biggest mistake of his life, and we accept that he means that. Mr Walker, your partner is expecting your first child in March of this year. We have been addressed by reference to and read material which evidences the fact that you suffer from severe mental health issues. Without going into details, those have led in the recent past to many incidents of self-harm, suicide attempts, and at least six admissions under the Mental Health Act in the UK. You are described as being very vulnerable, which we accept. Your mental health has contributed to that vulnerability and we accept that that may have been one of the reasons why you were chosen for this importation. You are, in effect, owing to the antiquity of your convictions when you were a juvenile, a man of good character. So in addition to giving you full credit for your guilty plea, we also give you a further significant discount by reference to the personal mitigation to which we have referred.

25. As to you, Mr Adams, you were not involved in the importation of cocaine but you were involved in this money laundering. You were co-operative on arrest. We have read about and heard about your family circumstances. You and your partner have been together for 25 years. Together you look after six children, four of whom you have had together. You are a family man. This was out of character, and before this offence you were working as an engineer and we have read a letter from your employer indicating he would be pleased to have you back. You have found the experience of custody salutary. It has enabled you to wean yourself off of alcohol and drugs, and in the future you are determined to abstain from both and continue to support your family. Your counsel asked for a sentence of 6 months that will ensure your immediate release 26. Mr Brannan, you said that the money seized from you were the proceeds of a poker game and you suggested that you broke your mobile telephone out of frustration or anger, but those accounts were not credible and were not consistent with your pleas of guilty. You have pleaded guilty for which you will receive full credit as we have said. We have dealt with your circumstances and the fact that you will, in any event, be returned to custody in the UK at the end of your sentence in Jersey. It is said on your behalf that the sentence the Crown moves for in relation to the money laundering charge you face is too high in the circumstances, and does not sufficiently reflect your guilty plea, and in general terms we accept that submission.

27. In relation to the money laundering charges, the Crown says that Brannan was instrumental in arranging for Walker, who in turn involved Adams, in coming to Jersey to collect the money. When that plan failed, Brannan attempted to remove the cash personally. The Crown’s view is that Brannan had the major role in the money laundering, followed by Walker and then, to a lesser extent, Adams. While the amount of money was not substantial, the Crown has emphasised the amount of money involved is not determinative of sentence particularly in circumstances where the money was the proceeds of drug trafficking, most likely linked to Class A drugs.

28. The Crown moves for a consecutive sentence in the case of Walker in relation to Count 2 on the footing that removal of cash warrants an additional consecutive sentence, reduced to take into account the principle of totality. Generally we would have accepted that submission, but having regard to the overall circumstances of this case, we have decided to impose a concurrent sentence on you, Walker, on Count 2.

29. Will you all now please stand.

30. The sentences that the Court imposes on each of you are as follows: 31. Kieran Walker (i) Count 1: 4½ years’ imprisonment (ii) Count 2: 6 months’ imprisonment, concurrent, making a total of 4½ years’ imprisonment.

32. Grant Adams (i) Count 2: 6 months’ imprisonment (ii) Count 3: no separate penalty, making a total of 6 months’ imprisonment.

33. Aaron Brennan (i) Count 4: 9 months’ imprisonment (ii) Count 5: 9 months’ imprisonment, consecutive, making a total of 18 months’ imprisonment.

34. You may all sit down.

35. We have made the orders sought in relation to forfeiture, destruction and confiscation, and we adjourn the outstanding matter of confiscation in relation to Mr Brannan to 6 February at 10 a.m., the Defendant excused appearance. Authorities Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Jersey) Law 2005. AG v Goodwin [2016] JRC 165. AG v Nicolle [2020] JRC 201. Mental Health Act. AG v Brennan [2016] JRC 234 AG v Cleaver [2016] JRC 080 AG v Fish and Hinds [2016] JRC 181A AG v Hagin [2020] JRC 176 AG v Williams [2024] JRC 226 Rimmer v AG [2001] JLR 373 Shahnowaz v AG [2007] JLR 221