Lance Aitken: Warwick father of eight slapped with jail time after botched drug swap

A Warwick father of eight already behind bars for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl has been hit with yet another jail term after he was busted trying to trade marijuana for meth in a spate of drug-fuelled crimes.

A Warwick man already serving a seven-year jail sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl has earned even more time behind bars after he was busted trying to trade marijuana for methamphetamines and a stack of other drug offences.

Police raided Lance Ernest George Aitken’s Warwick home on April 4, 2020, where officers uncovered 28g of marijuana and a swag of drug utensils including a homemade bong, grinders, and scales.

Warwick Magistrates Court heard the 31-year-old’s phone was also seized and a text conversation revealed Aitken had tried to swap a quarter of an ounce of marijuana for an equivalent quantity of meth in the months leading up to the raid.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said Aitken’s attempt was ultimately unsuccessful due to his supplier’s availability, with the Warwick man also claiming he had used the drug utensils, but they actually belonged to another unnamed person living at the house.

Warwick man Lance Ernest George Aitken, 31

It was only months earlier in December, 2019, that police searched another Warwick home while Aitken and two young children were inside, this time finding a cloth bag holding a pipe and a capped syringe stashed in a hallway cupboard.

The father of eight appeared in the Warwick court via videolink from jail, where he is currently serving a lengthy sentence handed down in the Brisbane District Court last year.

Aitken was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl three times when he was 24, as well as kissing her and making her watch him masturbate.

Sergeant de Lissa asked that Aitken be given a short, concurrent jail term as punishment for this latest offending, as the attempt to supply drugs made the charges more serious than those usually “mopped up” after higher court proceedings.

His argument was initially opposed by defence lawyer Lani Olafsson, who said Aitken had undertaken several literacy and numeracy qualifications and workshop jobs during his first 12 months in jail.

Ms Olafsson said her client was working as a forklift driver at Grove Juice at the time of the offending and made significant efforts to remain in contact with his eight children, aged between one and 13, and was still in a relationship with the mother of the three youngest children.

“He instructs me that he started using (marijuana) when he was 14 years old, however he obviously hasn’t used since he’s been in custody,” she said.

She said Aitken had since been diagnosed with depression, and now accepted his drug abuse could have been an attempt at self-medication.

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess said Aitken’s large family caused her concern in light of his criminal history, which included supplying dangerous drugs to a minor and other serious offending.

Aitken pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing drug utensils and one each of supplying dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing an item used in the commission of a crime, and failing to dispose of a syringe.

He was sentenced to three months’ jail, which will be served alongside his existing term.

The Warwick man will be eligible for parole after serving three-and-a-half years.