Meth is ‘rife’ in Murray Bridge, District Court told during sentencing submissions for Simon Joseph Newchurch

“Hardcore” drug users in an SA meth hotspot destroy the hopes of addicts who want to get better, a lawyer has told a country court.

A regional town home to a hardcore group of methamphetamine users is so awash in the drug that people seeking to recover from addiction should live elsewhere, a court has heard.

Murray Bridge has been identified in court proceedings as a town “rife with methamphetamine”, which is centred on a concentrated pocket of users described by the mayor as a “blot” on the community.

Lawyer Joseph Ramsay Sanders told the District Court during sentencing submissions for his client, 30-year-old Simon Joseph Newchurch, that meth was a cause of significant harm in the community.

“My practice in Murray Bride is sadly built on the back of methamphetamine,” he said. “Newchurch’s story is one of another 100 in the filing cabinet.”

He told the court his client’s best chance at a life without crime was to be away from a negative group of peers in the town Newchurch has called home.

Newchurch pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including serious assaults, attempting to pervert the court of justice and escaping custody by fleeing from the Murray Bridge Hospital in handcuffs.

Simon Newchurch. Picture: SAPOL

Judge Simon Stretton. Picture: Roger Wyman

He was at the hospital under police guard about 6.30pm on November 13, 2021, when he escaped.

The court heard that he had been left alone before he walked, and then ran, through the halls of the hospital and fled. He was arrested the next day and has remained in custody since then.

“He didn’t stop and think about his actions, he was under the influence of methamphetamine, pharmaceutical drugs and alcohol and he made a very, very poor decision to leave the hospital in the circumstances he did,” Mr Sanders said.

The court heard Newchurch intended to live in Meningie, 70km south of Murray Bridge, when he was released.

“Without throwing him under a bus, Meningie, unfortunately, is the lesser of two evils in methamphetamine culture,” Mr Sanders said.

“Your Honour would be well aware that Murray Bride is rife with methamphetamine.

“Quite frankly, I think Mr Newchurch’s best chances are going to be if he remains within the Meningie region.

“Unfortunately, that’s problematic, insofar as most significant employment opportunities with his skill set are centred around Murray Bridge.”

Murray Bridge. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Murray Bridge Mayor Brenton Lewis acknowledged there was a drug problem in the town, along with many regional areas, but he was confident it had declined in the past five years.

“There is a problem, I’m not going to deny that,” he said.

“There is a hardcore element of users who are a blot on this town.

“But I think it is more productive talking about addressing treatment and services for these people, rather than methamphetamine itself.”

Mr Sanders told The Advertiser he has spent the past 10 years working in Murray Bridge and cared for the community.

“I don’t want to sound like I am criticising Murray Bridge as a place to live,” he said.

“The reality is that there is a dense drug problem which is entrenched in some parts of the community.

“I can say that I am in court most Monday mornings and most of the cases are methamphetamine related.”

Simon Newchurch. Picture: SAPOL

During sentencing submissions for Newchurch earlier this month, Judge Simon Stretton said the offences of violence, paired with a history of similar conduct, were the most alarming part of his offending.

“It’s just too much of it. It’s too repeated,” he said,

“It’s too violent, and while I absolutely hear what you say about the dangers and the facilitating nature of methamphetamine, that doesn’t mitigate.

“It’s a factor … in at least half the cases I see here of violence, sex, break and enter, robbery, and anecdotally at least half the offenders would either be actively under meth usage at that time or addicted to meth or have a history of meth.

“It’s the single most pervasive element of the criminal justice system.”

Newchurch will be sentenced at a date yet to be set.