Jacob Ronald Leo Miers says he’s addicted to party drugs, pleads guilty to charges

A Central Queensland man battling drug addiction reached out to his GP for help just days before he was caught by police. Here’s what happened in the case which a magistrate described as “unusual”.

An apprentice electrician with a party drug addiction reached out to his GP for help just days before he was caught by police in an odd bust.

Jacob Ronald Leo Miers, 27, pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on June 23 to possessing MDMA (ecstasy), cocaine, a drug utensil, and contravening a police requirement.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Kevin Ongheen said about 2.40pm on December 31 last year, police were patrolling Adelaide Park Road at Yeppoon when they saw an Isuzu D-MAX parked near the intersection of Neils Road and Limestone Creek Road.

Sgt Ongheen said police spoke to Miers who was the driver and the sole occupant.

“As a result of a conversation with (Miers), the vehicle was detained for the purposes of a search,” Sgt Ongheen said.

“When asked if there was anything to declare, (Miers) stated he had some party drugs.”

Sgt Ongheen said inside the vehicle, police found a large zip-lock bag which contained four clip-seal bags of brown powder (MDMA).

Officers also found electronic scales and a number of smaller, unused clip-seal bags.

“Police have further located two clip-seal bags containing a white powder (cocaine) in the defendant’s zipped coin section of his wallet,” Sgt Ongheen said.

The prosecutor said Miers told police the MDMA was for his own personal use.

“(Miers) further stated he had been an addict for a number of years and regularly consumes up to one gram at a time,” Sgt Ongheen said.

“(Miers) stated there was about 10 to 11 grams of MDMA.”

Sgt Ongheen said Miers told officers there was about 2g of cocaine and that he had never used that drug “but thought he would try it”.

“He (Miers) said the electronic scales were to weigh out the substance to ensure he was not being ripped off and had got the amount he’d paid for,” Sgt Ongheen said.

The court heard Miers had similar offending on his criminal history from 2015 when he was fined in Emerald Magistrates Court for cannabis possession.

Solicitor Grant Cagney said Miers was a single man who was in his final year as an apprentice electrician with a local company, having moved to Australia about four years ago from New Zealand.

“He’s a permanent resident but doesn’t hold citizenship,” Mr Cagney said prior to ultimately submitting for no conviction to be recorded.

In relation to Miers’ drug use, the solicitor said “perhaps in an unusual circumstance” Miers had actually sought help for this prior to being caught.

At that point, Magistrate Cameron Press said: “That is unusual.”

Mr Cagney replied: “It’s very unusual.

“It was relatively close to the offending. On the 22nd of December last year, he (Miers) attended his GP to seek referral.

“I can tender a letter to Your Honour, that basically states ‘Jacob misuses drugs and alcohol...’

“The GP took a mental health assessment of my client and he actually made submissions, and again I stress this is prior to being in court: ‘substance misuse, other recreational drugs, 1g of ecstasy every weekend.’

“So he had told his doctor roughly a couple of weeks’ earlier.

“Because of that, he’s been sent to AODS (Alcohol and Other Drugs Service) - he’s attended six sessions at the moment.”

Mr Cagney said Miers had also provided two drug samples which were negative.

The solicitor said the documents tendered to the court showed Miers was “someone who knew he had a problem and was seeking to do something about it prior to being caught”.

Mr Cagney said he had asked Miers if he was “simply using drugs to party on weekends” and Miers had actually expressed that he was taking them by himself at home “which is why it really got to a point where he was medicating himself for depression and things like that, with these drugs that made him feel better”.

Mr Press placed Miers on 18 months’ probation with conditions including drug testing and drug counselling, and he also fined him $250.

No conviction was recorded.