A man who blamed chronic pain for his lapse into drug use tried to hide ice under the bodywork of his car, but was found out during a police raid

An Ipswich court has heard a man tried to hide ice in containers stored under his car’s bodywork

Patrick John Schafferius pleaded guilty to possession of the drug ice, which the court heard he had attempted to hide up under the bodywork of his vehicle.

A MAN stored magnetic containers of the drug ice under his car’s bodywork in an effort to keep it out of sight from police.

But in a raid on his Springfield Lakes home, detectives were not fooled.

They looked underneath the man’s Subaru and found the hidden stash.

Appearing before Ipswich Magistrates Court on Thursday, Patrick John Schafferius, 51, a father of two from Springfield Lakes, pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs on September 24, 2020; possession of drug utensils, and possession of anything acquired for use in a drug offence.

Prosecutor Sergeant Molinaro said a warrant was executed and during the search three magnetic containers were found attached to a Subaru Impreza in the garage of his home.

Sgt Molinaro said two magnetic devices were found secreted on the underside of the Subaru and the third device was hidden in the front wheel well.

Two of the devices held methylamphetamine inside clip seal bags.

Sgt Molinaro said the total weight of drugs was 17.4 grams.

“It is serious. There was a concerning attempt to conceal the drug,” Sgt Molinaro said.

“Mr Schafferius at first attributed blame to a previous tenant of the house.”

Sgt Molinaro said Schafferius had a dated criminal history involving drugs going back to 1988 and 1989.

He was sentenced by Brisbane Supreme Court in 1996 to a jail penalty for possession of dangerous drugs with a co-offender.

Sgt Molinaro said three driving offences in 2016, 2017 and 2019 involved Schafferius testing positive to drugs in his system that showed his issues with drug abuse.

Defence barrister Scott Neaves said Schafferius went 15 years without offending after being sentenced in 1996, and this shows he can abstain from drug use.

The court heard Schafferius did computer repairs and other electronic work, and was the official carer for his adult son who is intellectually impaired.

Mr Neaves said Schafferius suffers severe pain with degeneration of the discs in his back, and that this pain was a reason for his use of drugs.

He had since taken up better management of the pain through his doctor.

Magistrate Rob Turra accepted the drugs were for his personal use.

Mr Turra said medical material before the court shows he was of good character and taking care of his adult son with high needs.

Mr Turra noted he would benefit from assistance and supervision.

He was convicted and sentenced to 18-months jail, with immediate release to supervised parole.

Originally published as A man who blamed chronic pain for his lapse into drug use tried to hide ice under the bodywork of his car, but was found out during a police raid