Adelaide man avoids further jail after pleading guilty to trafficking ice – including in his nine-year-old son’s lunch bag
A man sent his nine-year-old son to school with methamphetamine in his lunch bag, one of three counts of trafficking to fuel his addiction. He’s been spared further jail time.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A “low level street dealer” who sent his son to school with the drug ice in his lunch order bag has avoided further jail time.
The Adelaide man pleaded guilty in the District Court to three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance between August 2017 and August 2018.
On the first and second occasions, police visited the 33-year-old’s house and found various amounts of methamphetamine, cannabis, cash, and phone messages relating to the drug trade.
But on the third occasion, police were called to his nine-year-old son’s school after a “crystalline substance” was found in the child’s lunch order bag. “A preliminary test returned a positive reading for methamphetamine,” Judge Liesl Chapman said while sentencing the man, court documents published this week reveal.
Police then went to the man’s home, where they found more than 13 grams of ice, $4000 cash and drug paraphernalia throughout the house.
Judge Chapman ruled the total drugs had “considerable potential value”, and could have been worth up to about $20,000 if they had been sold.
But she said there was no doubt he was trafficking to support his own addiction. “I find that you were involved in drug trafficking as a low level street dealer,” the judge said.
“There are no trappings of wealth consistent with you trading for a profit rather than to feed an out-of-control addiction.”
She set a non-parole period of two years, five months, taking into account 14 months already spent in jail and four spent on home detention.
The sentence was suspended upon entering a three-year good behaviour bond.
“You have already served over a year in jail and that is a long time for you,” Judge Chapman said.
“I am going to give you a chance to rehabilitate yourself in the community.”