WESTERN BUREAU — British resident, Ian Williams, was not spared jail time even though he claimed that he had only attempted to export cocaine because he needed money to help his child’s mother who was suffering from a brain tumor.

When he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court Thursday, he was fined $450,000 and sentenced to 10 months imprisonment at hard labour.

Williams, 37, was found with two pounds of cocaine in the soles of his shoes as he passed the security checkpoint at the Sangster International Airport on May 18, to board a British Airways flight to London.

He was later arrested and charged for possession of, dealing in and attempting to export cocaine.

When he appeared in court, he pleaded guilty to the charges against him and his attorney, Clive Mullings pleaded with the court to grant him mercy.

In a bid to garner sympathy for his client, Mullings told the court that Williams, a musician, had come to the island on “a misguided mission of mercy”. He explained that while he dare not try to exempt his client from blame and responsibility for his actions, Williams had acted for a just cause.

However, Resident Magistrate Paulette Williams was not satisfied that his reason for joining the illegal drug trade warranted leniency.

The magistrate regarded Williams’ actions as “trafficking in death to help someone who’s dying” and she said his actions, despite his reasons, could not be condoned.

“I’m still not satisfied … to condone someone who willingly (enters) this trade … there cannot be any reason,” she said. “The fact that you were doing it to help someone your love does not put you in any greater or lesser category (than others involved in the trade).”

For possession of the drug, he was fined $200,000 or four months. For attempting to export the drug, he was fined $250,000 or six months imprisonment and sentenced to a mandatory 10 months imprisonment at hard labour. The charge of dealing in the drug was dismissed.