Cairns crime: Tristen Jayde Hounslow, serving time for manslaughter found guilty of drug trafficking in Lotus Glen
A man serving eight years for manslaughter as a result of a drug deal gone wrong has been sentenced for drug trafficking while in Lotus Glen prison.
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A man serving eight years for manslaughter as a result of a drug deal gone wrong has been sentenced for drug trafficking while in Lotus Glen Correctional Centre.
Tristen Jayde Hounslow, 29 of Toowoomba, pleaded guilty to trafficking buprenorphine, with trafficking continuing once he was released, Crown prosecutor Seamus McManus told Cairns District Court this week.
He said Hounslow’s actions were brazen, talking about payments on a prison telephone he knew recorded calls with his partner, and he was arrested as part of the Queensland Police
Operation Tango Artesian.
It resulted in 12 people, including six prisoners, being arrested and charged with a total of 26 offences relating to drug trafficking in Lotus Glen.
Mr McManus told the court Hounslow got parole in August 2017 but was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle few months later, his parole was cancelled and he served the full term of eight years.
He said Hounslow stabbed a man in the leg, lacerating arteries that led to fatal blood loss, in Toowoomba on January 31, 2013.
He was sentenced the following December.
“In the twilight years of his term in prison, he embarked on trafficking bupe (buprenorphine — an opioid used to treat opioid disorder and pain) in Lotus Glen, with his partner on the outside responsible for managing financial transactions,” Mr McManus said.
He told the court there were 48 customers, 110 drug-related transactions and $17,500 received – a tidy return on a $7000 outlay.
Mr McManus said Hounslow, who was arrested and remanded in custody in October 2022 over the trafficking, was housed with three other prisoners who played a larger role.
Hounslow was held responsible for the death of Joel Walters, 31, who demanded Hounslow hand back methamphetamines in a transaction outside a house.
Hounslow punched Walters a number of times through the car window before stabbing him below the left knee, with the knife plunging eight to 12cm into Walters’ leg, severing two arteries.
Defence barrister John Seccull outlined Hounslow’s severely dysfunctional childhood.
“He comes before the court as someone who has effectively been robbed, through a combination of his own bad decisions and bad luck ... his adult life has been spent in custody save for short periods on parole,” Mr Seccull said.
He said Hounslow was one of 11 children and never knew his father.
Mr Seccull said Hounslow began using cannabis and alcohol when he was 12 years old, and rapidly moved on to methamphetamine and heroin.
He said Hounslow’s trafficking outside prison was confined to collecting money owed to him.
After he was released from prison, he was briefly arrested and during that incident, his partner and the mother of his then two-month-old daughter, who was suffering post-natal depression, tragically ended her life, Mr Seccull said.
Hounslow was keen to be reunited with his now 20-month-old daughter, had several construction industry qualifications and had completed drug rehabilitation courses, he said.
Judge Dean Morzone KC referenced Hounslow’s troubled childhood, saying “he sought solace escaping reality using drugs and alcohol”.
Noting Hounslow had served 562 days in pre-sentence custody, he declared 365 days of that as time already served.
Judge Morzone handed down a three year sentence with a parole date of April 23, 2024.
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Originally published as Cairns crime: Tristen Jayde Hounslow, serving time for manslaughter found guilty of drug trafficking in Lotus Glen
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