Court of Appeal doubles jail term for Operation Ironside drug trafficker Stuart Farquhar
A drug trafficker who bought a special car to conceal millions of dollars worth of illicit substances has had his “manifestly inadequate” jail term doubled on appeal.
Police & Courts
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An Operation Ironside drug courier jailed for three years for trafficking millions of dollars worth of methylamphetamine has had his jail term almost doubled on appeal because it was “manifestly inadequate”.
Stuart Duncan Farquhar, 32, of Mount Barker, was one of dozens of people arrested on June 7, 2021, when law enforcement agencies disabled the encrypted AN0M application and pounced on its users.
Farquhar was jailed by the District Court in August 2022 for four years, six months and 19 days with a non-parole period of three-years, seven months and 22 days after pleading guilty to seven serious drug trafficking offences.
The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentence and urged it be increased in part to “serve as a precedent” for the sentencing of other Operation Ironside cases.
In a judgment, the Court of Appeal found the sentence imposed was “well below the appropriate range of sentences for this offending and manifestly inadequate”.
“To allow the sentence to stand would shake public confidence in the administration of justice,” the court ruled.
Farquhar’s offending involved collecting and transporting large quantities of methylamphetamine and heroin “on behalf of a lucrative drug syndicate who communicated via the AN0M platform”.
His offending included the seizure of 2.377kg of methylamphetamine and 686g of heroin found in a locked metal box in his bedroom.
The amount of heroin was more than what is normally seized in South Australia in an entire year.
He had also collected 20kg of methylamphetamine from a truck travelling from New South Wales that he then delivered under instruction of drug syndicate leaders, who sold it for $2.85m.
On another occasion he collected 10kg of methylamphetamine and had also handled heroin.
The court had heard he had bought a “specific vehicle fitted with a hidden compartment so that illicit drugs and money could be secreted while in transit”.
The judgment noted Farquhar was “a trusted member” of the syndicate who was paid “wages” for his involvement.
“His role was an integral and necessary part of a highly organised, lucrative syndicate, responsible for distributing vast amounts of methylamphetamine and heroin in South Australia,” the judgment noted.
The court found Farquhar fell to be sentenced as “more than a mere courier” and his offending was “well thought out and contrived”.
It noted his motivation was financial, albeit because of his expensive drug addiction that resulted from mental health concerns.
In re-sentencing Farquar, the court reduced a 13-year head sentence by 35 per cent for his guilty pleas to eight years, nine months and 10 days for his early guilty pleas.
A new non-parole period of seven years and eight days was imposed.
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