Beau Stuart: Varsity Lakes man released from prison after 10 months following meth relapse
A young Gold Coast man who committed a spate of drug and property crime just months after his release on parole spent 10 months locked up awaiting his fate. Now, there might be a sliver of hope.
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A young Gold Coast welder who committed a spate of drug and property offences just months after his release on parole for similar offending has been given a shot at redemption after languishing for 10 months in a prison cell.
Varsity Lakes man Beau James Stuart, 20, appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on Friday via audiovisual link from custody.
He pleaded guilty to 18 charges, most seriously possessing 4.1g pure weight of methamphetamine.
There was also one count of entering premises with intent to commit an indictable offence and multiple counts of stealing and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, as well as additional charges of fraud, possessing dangerous drugs, fail to appear, driving while disqualified, and unlawful possession of suspected stolen property.
The court was told Stuart was linked to the stolen cars via fingerprints, although the court accepted it was Stuart’s criminal associates, rather than Stuart himself, who stole them.
His offending was committed between February 2024 and his arrest and remand in custody on April 22 last year.
The court was told Stuart had been granted parole for similar offending just months before the current crime spree, with the effect that once he was arrested, he was ordered to serve the unexpired portion of that previous order.
As at Friday, Stuart had spent about 305 days in pre-sentence custody, although only a portion of that was attributable to the current offending.
Defence lawyer Lisa Searing told the court her client was doing well for about five months after his previous sentence, but a chance encounter with an old associate, who offered him drugs, made him slip back into addiction as comfortably as putting on an old pair of jeans.
Asked how the court could be assured the same pattern would not be repeated, Ms Searing said her client had finally accepted he needed help and his family had paid for a 12-month rehabilitation stint at Victory House on the southern Gold Coast.
“He was living in a state of denial, he thought he could quit without any assistance,” Ms Searing said.
“He’s got some insight now into what he needs to do to make sure he doesn’t go back there [jail].”
She told the court her client had a “good childhood” and came from a “good family”, but lost his way after his parents’ divorce.
Upon his release from custody, he wanted to continue to work in welding, a trade he had been able to further in the prison workshop while serving out his previous sentence.
Stuart was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for an operational period of two years, and placed on 18 months’ probation.
After his expected release on Friday afternoon, his dad would be driving him straight to Victory House to commence the 12-month rehabilitation program.
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Originally published as Beau Stuart: Varsity Lakes man released from prison after 10 months following meth relapse
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