Drug importer Jerome Eugene Dublin was jailed for eight years yesterday for trying to smuggle crack cocaine and cannabis into the Island.

Dublin showed no emotion as Puisne Judge Norma-Wade Miller handed down the sentence at Supreme Court after a jury found him guilty by a majority verdict of importing the drugs and of possession with intent to supply.

In March, Dublin was charged with helping to organise a dog fight in Pembroke and obtaining a dog from an unlicensed source, but Police dropped the case.

In 1995, when he was 16, Dublin, of Glebe Road, Pembroke, and another youth admitted unlawfully assaulting a 14-year-old girl by holding her down while another boy played with her private parts.

The jury yesterday concluded Dublin was lying when he claimed to have no knowledge of the drugs, worth $96,000, which were concealed in a false bottom of a holdall bag.

Dublin was caught with the drugs when he arrived at Bermuda International Airport on January 5 on a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica.

He told a Customs officer that the bag belonged to his mother, but later changed his story to claim his bag had been stolen in Jamaica and that he had taken home another holdall he found in his room.

Dublin claimed to have no knowledge that the new holdall he found in his room contained drugs.

Asking for a sentence of at least eight years, Crown prosecutor Juan Wolffe said: "It is a large amount of drugs.

"I don't have to go into details as to the scourge of drugs in this community and how it has affected the wider community.

"A strong deterrent must be made so that those who seek to profit from such illicit trade in this poison will know quite clearly that it is not something that should be done.

"A strong message must be sent out to Mr. Dublin himself that he will be suffering the consequences of his actions.

"This is a case where we are dealing with cocaine freebase, colloquially known as crack, and there is authority to say where there is crack, because of its potency, it should attract a higher sentence than simple cocaine.'' Dublin said "sorry'' before being sentenced and his lawyer Richard Hector appealed for leniency, asking for a minimum sentence of five years.

Mr. Hector said: "He reached the age of 21 without significant blemish, and that in itself is quite an achievement in our society today.

"The quantities are just over three pounds of cannabis, which in the scheme of things in this country, I've seen more impressive quantities.

"I realise the cocaine is the aggravating factor and all I can ask in all the circumstances is that you be as lenient as you can.'' Mrs Justice Wade-Miller told Dublin: "You have been found guilty of a very serious offence and no doubt you are aware that this type of matter attracts an immediate custodial sentence.

"The Court of Appeal says that if one involves himself or herself in a scheme to bring drugs to Bermuda, they must be punished severely.'' She sentenced Dublin to eight years for importing and possessing the cocaine with intent to supply, and seven years for the same offences involving cannabis and cannabis resin. The sentences are to run concurrently.