Koongal resident Elijah Kenneth Doughty, 28, trafficked meth and marijuana and was busted with 36g of marijuana seeds

A Central Queensland drug trafficker with more than a dozen customers received the best birthday present he could get – no actual time in prison for his crimes. See why the court showed him mercy.

A drug trafficker received the best birthday present he could get – no actual time in prison for his crimes.

Elijah Kenneth Doughty, 28, was sentenced in the Supreme Court on December 8 after earlier pleading guilty to one count of trafficking drugs.

Doughty, who was sentenced on his birthday, had previously been handed a two-year probation order for producing drugs.

However, the father-of-two has never spent a day in prison despite his 10-year criminal record containing drug related offences.

This time, Doughty was busted trafficking marijuana and methamphetamines over a two-month period in 2018 to 16 customers in 51 supplies, sometimes offering customers ‘two for one’ type deals and taking payments in forms of electrical goods such as ear pods.

He was only charged and put on bail in October 2020 after police issued an arrest warrant.

Police had raided his Koongal residence on November 30, 2018, at 11.41am.

During the search, Doughty called police “f---heads” and told them to “hurry the f-- up and get out of here”.

Police seized Doughty’s phone and he refused.

They found six cryovac bags each containing six grams, along with over 78gs of a cutting agent, unused clip-seal bags, a tick sheet with five names on it, a homemade pipe made out of PVC and counterfeit $100 bills.

Doughty falsely claimed, having been convicted previously for possessing drug utensils, that he did not know it was illegal to possess drug utensils.

He also told police the tick sheet was a scoring sheet for a game he played with friends.

Doughty then told police he didn’t know who owned the mobile phone they found on his bedside table, despite his photograph being the phone’s locked screen saver and it being found near a bank card with Doughty’s name on it.

The court heard the phone was not password protect and police found messages to “EJ”, which was Doughty’s nickname, on the phone referring to drug deals.

He would give his customers instructions such as to park down the street and let him know when they arrived, then telling them their drugs were under the welcome mat in an effort to hide his drug offending from his then partner.

Defence barrister Jordan Ahlstrand said Doughty’s trafficking was unsophisticated and involved street level supplies with no evidence of encrypted messages or making enough money to lead a “lavish lifestyle”.

He said Doughty sold drugs to fund his own habit.

Elijah Kenneth Doughty sold drugs to fund his own habit.

At the time, Doughty was using marijuana daily.

Since his arrest, he has undergone two rounds of drug rehabilitation with two organisations.

Mr Ahlstrand, who pointed out the family members and partner in court to support his client, said Doughty had been diagnosed with extreme anxiety, autism spectrum disorder level three and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Justice Graeme Crow said the character references provided to the court were essential as they described Doughty as being a “decent person”, “terrific person” when he wasn’t using drugs.

He said sending Doughty to prison could undo all the rehabilitation efforts he had undergone in the past three years.

Justice Crow sentenced Doughty to three years prison with immediate parole.