Drug dealer Benjamin Thomas Cairns caught with meth and fantasy in Mount Gambier

A dealer who was caught with significant amounts of meth and fantasy had his addiction escalate after losing a close friend in a car accident, a court heard.

A dealer who was caught with over $30,000 of meth had his addiction escalate after losing a close friend in a car accident, a court heard.

Benjamin Thomas Cairns, 28, was under the influence of meth when he cut off his home detention bracelet and went on the run.

A prosecutor told the District Court on Monday Cairns was caught with 95.51g of methamphetamine, 252g of fantasy and 53 Suboxone strips in May 2021 at Mount Gambier.

The court heard the methamphetamine was valued between $26,191 and $30,390 and the fantasy was worth between $504 and $1764.

Cairns was granted home detention bail for the offending in August 2021.

Benjamin Cairns pleaded guilty to three counts of drug trafficking. Photo: Facebook

Benjamin Cairns will be sentenced next month. Photo: Facebook

The court heard Cairns cut off his home detention bracelet in May 2022 and absconded to Victoria, where he allegedly committed further offences, including dangerous driving and drug charges.
He is yet to enter a plea to those charges.

The prosecutor said it was likely Victorian police would extradite Cairns to Victoria once he served his sentence in South Australia.

Benjamin Cairns was wanted for breaching his home detention bail. Photo: SAPOL

The prosecutor said Cairns was a street-level dealer, partially motivated by profit – due to the significant quantities of drugs and substantial amounts of cash found.

Cairns, of Mount Gambier, pleaded guilty to three counts of drug trafficking.

The court heard Cairns was sentenced in 2018 for drug trafficking and firearms offences.

Tessa Hume, for Cairns, said her client now acknowledged the extent of his methamphetamine addiction and what the drug was doing to his life.

“He is determined to now address that addiction … he is at a crossroads where he must face the consequences of his addiction and his actions,” she said.

Ms Hume asked the court to give Cairns the chance to turn his life around from its negative trajectory.

The court heard Cairns, who commenced drug use in his teenage years, was under the influence of methamphetamine when he absconded.

“A close friend of Mr Cairns’ was killed in a motor vehicle accident and he says that his methamphetamine use at that junction escalated,” Ms Hume said.

Ms Hume said Cairns had previously worked as a concreter and was the father to a seven-year-old son.

The court heard Cairns planned to stay at a live-in rehabilitation centre once released to get on top of his drug addiction.

Judge Rauf Soulio will sentence Cairns next month.