Mooroobool man jailed for seven years over half-a-million dollar meth stash
A judge has rejected a Cairns man's ‘implausible’ claim he was holding ‘an enormous bag of drugs’ worth up to half-a-million dollars for someone else.
A Mooroobool man who had half-a-million dollars worth of meth in his bedroom has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.
Farron Trevor Nash, 29, pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing drugs – one aggravated by being more than two grams of a Schedule 1 drug – when he appeared in Cairns Supreme Court this week.
The court was told Nash had a single bag of meth, weighing 300g, with a pure weight of 262.4 grams, some smaller amounts of cannabis and trenbolone, a steroid.
The court was told the “significant” amount of meth had a value of “$523,000 if sold in points, and $175,000 if sold in ounces”.
Nash’s defence barrister Aaron Dunkerton said his client was “holding” the drug for someone else.
He said Nash agreed to look after the drug because the person told him he could use some of the drug and it would clear a debt Nash owed him.
Mr Dunkerton said there was no other “indicia” of a drug dealer at Nash’s house, like scales, tick sheets or ziplock bags.
Presiding Chief Justice Helen Bowskill described the explanation as “implausible”, saying the more likely story was that he simply hadn’t started dealing yet.
“You were (said to have) felt an obligation because you owed money to this person and you would receive a ‘clear bill’ if you held the drugs and could use some ... The likelihood that they would give you an enormous bag of drugs when you owed them money is implausible,” Justice Bowskill said.
“I infer that you held them for a commercial purpose.”
Mr Dunkerton said Nash had a longstanding addiction, having turned to drugs at a very young age to deal with childhood trauma.
“Mr Nash’s capacity to understand the consequences of his action was impaired by his mental health conditions and his addiction,” Mr Dunkerton said, noting that he was now employed and was well-supported in court by family and friends.
Justice Bowskill said Nash had a minor criminal history of possessing testosterone in 2018.
“This (offence) is a serious escalation and ... to the extent you may have been desensitised to drug use, I hope this is a complete shock to the system that moves you past this in the future,” Justice Bowskill said.
She sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment, with eligibility for parole from August 25, 2027, after he had served 21 months.
“It is in the community interest that you have a long period of supervision, rather than a longer period of imprisonment,” she said.
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Originally published as Mooroobool man jailed for seven years over half-a-million dollar meth stash
