William Bruce Moore sentenced in court for supplying dangerous drugs

A heavy drug user, who relapsed after losing his job during the Covid-19 pandemic, was caught with weapons and methamphetamine in his car. Read what happened in court.

A heavy drug user, who relapsed after losing his job during the Covid-19 pandemic, was caught with weapons and methamphetamine in his car after supplying the drug to a woman in Rockhampton the night before.

William Bruce Moore, 35, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court at Rockhampton on February 16 to two counts of possessing weapons and one count each of supplying dangerous drugs, possessing a dangerous drug in excess of 2g, possessing anything used in the commission of a crime, possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of an offence, possessing pipes or utensils, possessing a knife in public, as well as possessing explosives and dangerous drugs.

Justice Graeme Crow read the facts of the offending to the court.

Justice Crow told the court Moore was intercepted by police on April 27, 2021, about 2am and that officers saw smoke coming from the car and blood coming from the top of Moore’s head.

Gladstone Reef Hotel. Picture: Rodney Stevens

Police also saw a gold flip knife in the front footwell and other weapons in the car, including a taser.

Police searched the car and found a black metal container, which contained a large quantity of clip-seal bags, four that contained meth, and a used glass smoking pipe.

A total of 17.926g of pure meth in 26.342g of substance was split across four of the clip-seal bags.

Also found in the car was a bag containing digital scales, $2815 cash, the gold flip knife, another small folding knife, ammunition and a taser.

A search warrant was executed on a room at Gladstone Reef Hotel, where less than 1g of meth was seized by police.

Justice Crow said Moore told police the night before he had given meth to a woman in Rockhampton.

Crown prosecutor Bianca Volling said the Crown alleged the meth was possessed for a commercial purpose.

Ms Volling said the Crown relied on the weight and purity of the drug, that it was packaged into smaller quantities and the presence of cash, digital scales and clip seal-bags in the car.

Barrister Julie Marsden argued her client was a heavy drug user at the time of the offending and that some of the drugs were for his own personal use.

Ms Volling said the Crown conceded that some of the meth may have also been available for Moore’s own personal use.

Ms Marsden said her client was employed until 2017 where he was incarcerated for drug offending shortly after and struggled with his mental health.

Justice Crow noted that Moore started taking ecstasy and speed at 18 years old before becoming addicted to meth.

He said Moore was clean from drugs and returned to work after his release from incarnation, however, lost his job as a result of Covid-19 and returned to using drugs.

Ms Marsden said drug use was the biggest hurdle for her client, who was motivated to stay clean from drugs and move to the Gold Coast.

Moore was sentenced to three years’ prison with 295 days declared as time served and a parole release date of April 26 was set.

The weapons and drug paraphernalia were forfeited to the Crown.