Timothy James Cottam: Hindmarsh Valley drug trafficker sentenced for drug and cash haul

A southern suburbs window cleaner turned drug trafficker has faced court after being caught with kilos of cannabis and wads of cash.

A Hindmarsh Valley window cleaner has faced court charged with trafficking cannabis as part of a “well-oiled business”.

The Christies Beach Magistrates Court heard Timothy James Cottam, 39, was caught with almost 2kg of cannabis and $10,000 cash after being pulled over by police at Hallett Cove in January.

The court heard a police search of Cottam’s car found two shopping bags with 19 small bags of cannabis each labelled with a weight, plastic tubs containing around 900g of cannabis, $700 cash and a ticklist with names.

A later search of Cottam’s house found a further 1kg of cannabis in plastic tubs and $10,000 cash.

Defence lawyer Peter Hill said Cottam – a divorcee with no criminal history – had made a serious error of judgment but had pleaded guilty to the charges at the earliest opportunity.

“At the time of this offending Mr Cottam was a daily user of cannabis and had been for 10 years,” Mr Hill said.

“To his credit he has ceased that use … he’s since been prescribed melatonin and he’s also sourced natural remedies including ‘Sleep-Ezy’ and ‘Nature’s Own Advanced Sleep’.”

Timothy Cottam was caught with 19 bags of cannabis in his car. Picture: iStock

The maximum penalty for drug trafficking is a $50,000 fine or 10 years imprisonment.

Magistrate Susan O’Connor convicted Cottam and ordered he serve a six month and 18 day suspended sentence and adhere to a two-and-a-half year good behaviour bond.

“You’ve made a submission that you’ve smoked cannabis daily, that’s got nothing to do with the anti-social greed and the damage that you cause by being a drug trafficker,” Ms O’Connor said.

“You had a well-oiled business, you decided to stop being respectable become a drug trafficker and set up this illicit business.

“It’s disgraceful and it’s just greed.

“When you operate a market like this you’re just promoting crime, you’re in a seedy place making quick money from people who are unfortunately down the supply chain from you.”