Scott Dalrymple jailed for meth supply in Darwin

A man on parole for running a Northern Territory drug syndicate has been busted with a haul of meth and cash hidden in his home.

A man who was once the kingpin of a Northern Territory drug syndicate has been busted with a commercial quantity of methamphetamine and thousands of dollars worth of drug proceeds.

Scott Dalrymple, 48, was sentenced in the Supreme Court at Darwin on December 20 after a raid on his house uncovered 90.24 grams of meth and $30,000 cash.

Dalrymple pleaded guilty to one count each of supplying a commercial quantity of a Schedule 1 drug, possessing cash obtained from supplying dangerous drugs, possessing an ice pipe, drug driving, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving an uninsured vehicle.

The court heard Dalrymple was on parole for supplying a commercial quantity of methamphetamine and police were conducting surveillance of him when they intercepted him driving an unregistered and uninsured red Mazda 3 for a drug test on April 24, 2023.

After returning a positive result for drugs, Dalrymple was arrested and taken to the police station for further testing.

The court heard police then executed a search warrant on Dalrymple’s home and found a glass ice pipe, seven clip seal bags containing a total of 90.24 grams of meth and the cash stash.

Police also found a box containing empty clip-seal bags, two pages of handwritten ledger-type entries, a notepad containing handwritten ledger-type entries, digital scales and a locked master lockbox.

Her Honour Justice Sonia Brownhill told the court that if sold by the gram for the conservative price of between $500 to $800 per gram, the meth found in Dalrymple home would have a street value between $45,120 and $72,192.

Justice Brownhill said Dalrymple had a ‘significant’ criminal history dating back to 2006, with convictions for supplying commercial quantities of methamphetamine for which he spent time behind bars, 15 convictions for possession of cannabis, meth, MDMA, seven convictions of possessing drug paraphernalia, a conviction for cultivating drugs with intent to supply and unlicensed driving.

The court heard Dalrymple had a ‘good childhood’ after being born in Victoria and grew up in Port Hedland before his family moved to Perth where he left school in Year 9 to join the workforce.

Dalrymple, a divorced father-of-two, worked in a variety of trade related and labouring roles and in the mining and IT sectors.

His illicit drug use began in his mid-teens with cannabis, before escalating to harder drugs by age 19.

Justice Brownhill said Dalrymple appeared ‘genuinely remorseful’ for his offending, having self-referred to the Banyan House rehabilitation program and decided to reduce his sentence by 25 per cent as a result.

The court heard

“Your barrister has put that, shortly after your release, you started using methamphetamine again because of the pressure of being out of custody with nothing to your name, and your inability to cope in the community,” Justice Brownhill said.

“Your circle of friends were drug users and they began asking you to get drugs for them. You were the middle man for them and associates to purchase drugs.

“The people you were buying from began loading you up with more drugs, and before you knew it, you were selling drugs on a larger scale.

“You used the profits you made from selling drugs to buy more drugs for yourself

and your then girlfriend to use. The $30,000 in cash was said to be going back to

your suppliers.”

Justice Brownhill said Dalrymple’s latest offending was less serious than his drug supply offending in 2017, which involved him arranging for the transportation into the Northern Territory, on multiple occasions, of some 565 grams of methamphetamine and recruiting

others into those arrangements.

“For many years, the Court has emphasised the gravity of the criminal conduct involved in the supply of commercial quantities of dangerous drugs in the Northern Territory, and offenders

have been on notice that significant terms of imprisonment will be imposed for such

offending,” she said.

“That is because such drugs cause significant harm to people, both those who consume and become addicted to them, and those other innocent people who suffer as a result.”

Justice Brownhill sentenced Dalrymple to five years and four months prison backdated to April 24, 2023, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months.

He was also fined $1782.

Originally published as Scott Dalrymple jailed for meth supply in Darwin