FORMER deckchair business-owner Joanne Jones has been released on bail after she was found not guilty yesterday of four money-laundering offences.

Over the course of the eight-day trial, the small Number Two court has been packed with the St Brelade businesswoman’s supporters, and Ms Jones embraced her friends and legal team in relief after the verdicts were handed down.

Jurats Jerry Ramsden and Pamela Pitman acquitted the 49-year-old of concealing and converting alleged drugs profits by purchasing a house in Wales, having £300,000 in bonds and depositing almost £30,000 in a Welsh bank account.

Ms Jones has already pleaded guilty to related charges including possession of cannabis with the intent to supply and five counts of tax evasion.

She pleaded guilty to the possession charge on the basis that she was holding it for a friend.

The Crown does not accept that plea basis, however, and as a result, a Newton hearing will be heard on the matter before sentencing.

Over the course of the trial, the prosecution contended that the 49-year-old mother of one was a long-standing drug dealer.

Crown Advocate David Hopwood argued that her accumulated wealth, which topped £1 million including property, could not be explained in any other way, as she has only worked in low-paid jobs.

But Advocate Michael Haines, who defended Ms Jones, contended she had accumulated that money over decades through hard graft at both her businesses and numerous side jobs, frugal living and buying and selling at car boot sales and on internet sites.

Advocate Haines said that while Ms Jones admitted to the one drugs charge from September 2017, when she was found in possession of half a kilo of cannabis, the Crown claimed she had been drug-dealing since 1995, when she arrived in Jersey.

The advocate said that this had not been proved in court.

The Crown and defence each produced a forensic accountant to further their case, with the defence expert telling the court it was possible that the former owner of SunnySide deck chairs at St Brelade’s Bay accumulated her wealth through her hard work, small family inheritances, investing in interest-paying bonds and her buying and selling activities which included fish and lobster, scrap metals, jewellery, mannequins, fishing boats and kayaks.

Ms Jones told the court she was a saver, not a spender.

The Jurats deliberated for just over two hours before clearing her of all four charges.

Ms Jones walked into the Royal Square with her supporters after 14 months at La Moye Prison.

Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith granted her bail application and she must re-appear in the Royal Court on 28 January for a Newton hearing ahead of her sentencing.

To read original article please click here