COURT: Wheelchair-bound man set up meth lab for personal use

AFTER a motorcycle accident left a man nearly quadriplegic, he turned to producing meth in a homemade laboratory to manage the pain and digestive issues, a Kingaroy court heard.

Methamphetamine pure crystals (also known as \\" P \\" ) being heated in a glass pipe by a police drugs officer during a controlled demonstration . 10 February 2003 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Martin SykesNZH 10feb04 - HOT DRUG : ESR says it gets about 25 new methamphetamine cases each month but is able to process only 15 of them. PICTURE / MARTIN SYKESBOP 9mar04 - NAD 3apr04 - BOP 23apr04 - BOP 14may04 - BOP 15apr06 - SUN 24jun07 - ROT 3may08 - NZH 15jul08 -RDP 24Jun10 - JAILED: Rotorua teenager Makiha Mihaka has been given a six-year jail term for the pack rape of a Rotorua woman. PICTURE / FILERDP 06Aug10 - TAKEN: A man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and P-related drugs charges.RDP 16Oct10 - P: Chauval sold ``high quality'' drugs for up to $18,000 an ounce. PICTURE / FILERDP 21Apr11 - UNNOTICED: Neighbours of the Ranginui St home never realised it was being used as a methamphetamine lab until police raided the property. PHOTOS/FILE LAB BUST: Police clean up after a raid on a Ranginui St methamphetamine manufacturing operation last year.RDP 17Oct11 -

AN "incomplete quadriplegic" was sentenced to a suspended prison term for producing meth he claimed was to avoid regular enemas.

David Adolf Kuchtin pleaded guilty to ten offences and was sentenced at Kingaroy Disctrict Court on August 20.

The charges related to a search warrant executed on December 21, 2016 at Kuchtin's home.

During the search police discovered a laboratory Kuchtin admitted he had used a day prior to produce methamphetamine.

Officer found 0.118 grams of meth in liquid form along with the necessary chemicals to convert it to a crystalline substance.

The total amount of chemicals found could have produce a maximum theoretical yield of 20.2 grams of meth.

The 59-year-old was charged with one count of producing a dangerous drug, one count of possessing a dangerous drug, six counts of possessing relevant substances of things, one count of possessing anything used in the commission of a crime and one count of possessing utensils or pipes.

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Nicole Kefford noted the crown did not allege Kuchtin was producing the drugs for a commercial purpose, rather he was using meth to self-medicate.

The court heard Kuchtin was left a "incomplete quadriplegic" by a motorcycle crash in 1987, and had just 10 to 15 per cent use of his left arm and about 20 per cent use of his right arm.

Judge Kefford said he had at various times since the accident used illicit substances to manage the pain and "gastrointestinal sluggishness" caused by the injury.

"Because of the injury, your nervous system causes your digestive system to slow, and I am told that you found the use of methamphetamine helps to regulate the system to enhance your capacity for self-toileting to defecate and that, without that assistance, you found that you were in need of regular enemas," she said.

The court heard since being charged, Kuchtin has benefited from the NDIS providing him with services he had not been able to access before.

Judge Kefford noted he since "desisted with production of the illegal substances, as you recognise that you are an easy target for the police in terms of charges".

Taking into account his circumstances and plea of guilty, Kuchtin was sentenced on the charge of producing a dangerous drug to 18-months imprisonment, wholly suspended for a term of 18 months.

For the remaining charges he was convicted and not further punished.

All items seized were forfeited.

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