Ben Caffrey: Ipswich home invasion shooter, drug dealer faces sentence

An Ipswich man has avoided jail after pleading guilty to dealing methamphetamine, with a court hearing he found it ‘difficult to cope’ in the wake of a fatal home invasion.

A recidivist Ipswich drug dealer has been handed a suspended sentence after a fatal home invasion he was involved in had “psychological consequences”, a court has heard.

Ben Caffrey, 33, was charged with a number of drug and firearm offences following a fatal shooting at his former Stafford St, Booval residence in the early hours of March 4, 2016.

An Ipswich District Court heard in June 2018 that Caffrey was in possession of one kilogram of marijuana, nearly $50,000 in cash, an M1 Carbine self-loading rifle, and methamphetamine when four intruders entered his home.

One of the intruders, 26-year-old David Nanai, was shot and killed at the scene.

Caffrey, who now lives at Basin Pocket, returned to Ipswich District Court on Tuesday December 7, facing three new charges including 17 counts of supplying schedule one drugs and one count of supplying schedule two drugs – all of which he pleaded guilty to in September.

His barrister Stephen Kissick said he continued to have “struggles with coping” following the shooting, dealing also with a “longstanding draw and addiction to drugs” which began when he was 16 years old.

Ben Caffrey, 33.

Mr Kissick said his client had however managed to both gain and hold employment as a mechanic foreman.

The court heard Caffrey’s drug dealing business was exposed in June last year, when police saw him using his mobile phone while driving.

His device was seized and examined by police, revealing he had supplied methamphetamine and GHB to buyers for a period of 27 days.

Judge Horneman-Wren said the amounts he sold were “street level”, with the largest weighing 1.3 grams and selling for $500.

The court heard he would sometimes reach out to buyers himself, and other times buyers would reach out to him.

Speaking directly to Caffrey, Mr Horneman-Wren said he was hesitant to send him to jail as doing so would almost certainly cost the mechanic his job and render him less employable when released.

He ordered Caffrey to keep his “nose clean” for three and a half years, sentencing him to a total of 18 months imprisonment.

The sentence was immediately suspended for three and a half years.