MDMA busts, shady deals: Warwick’s latest drug offenders named - full list

From a teenager nabbed twice in one day with a swag of pills to people caught with drugs or utensils in their homes, these are the latest residents to be sentenced in court for drug offending. SEE THE LIST OF NAMES:

A Warwick man busted with a sizeable drug stash only a year after being convicted of supplying methamphetamines was just one of the residents recently sentenced in court for drug offending.

Lee Ian Popp was a passenger in a car pulled over by police on Freestone Rd in May, with officers searching the vehicle at the scene to find 167.5g marijuana inside a plastic shopping bag stashed under the Warwick man’s seat.

Warwick Magistrates Court heard the 23-year-old could not provide any lawful reason for possessing such a large amount of the drug, telling police he planned to use it for pain relief.

Popp appeared in court with a six-page criminal history, which included drug-related convictions in 2021 and 2019, and was still serving an unrelated probation order at the time of this latest brush with the law.

Duty lawyer Clare Hine said Popp was suffering severe pain due to serious dental issues at the time, and wanted to use the marijuana to manage the pain before his upcoming surgery.

“In terms of his drug use, he tells me he did attend Lives Lived Well in 2019 and that enabled him to stop using ice,” she said.

“Unfortunately this offending occurred whilst he was on probation for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, but I do understand from (probation officers) that he’s been going quite well.”

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess acknowledged Popp’s rehabilitation progress, but warned him he needed to be using the medicinal marijuana prescription he had already received, rather than opting for the illegal option.

Popp pleaded guilty to one count of possessing dangerous drugs.

He was placed on probation for 15 months, extending his existing order by about nine months.

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Sharing his own marijuana supply with friends was enough to land a former Warwick resident in court on several charges.

Officers raided Sheriton Joseph Quigg’s Percy St home on October 13, 2020, where they found a combined 11g in marijuana and seeds and two plastic containers filled with marijuana oil in the laundry, which contained another 2g of the drug.

Police prosecutor Andrew Grafton said the search also uncovered a bong and cone piece, a grinder, and a set of scales that all smelled strongly of marijuana.

“In addition to possessing and using (marijuana), Quigg also made admissions to having supplied small quantities of (marijuana) to other persons at a quantity of once or twice a week,” Sergeant Grafton said.

“Although he denied selling the drug, he would give three or four friends (marijuana) if they came to his place.

“He didn’t think it was an offence.”

Quigg described his offending and criminal history as “very silly” to the Warwick court, saying he was no longer using drugs and had moved back to New South Wales to get his life back on track.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of supplying dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, and possessing drug utensils.

Quigg was fined $500.

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A Stanthorpe man caught with a fresh stash of drugs while he was on bail for previous drug offending has been warned he needs to stop his criminal ways before they land him in a jail cell.

Police raided a Stanthorpe home on October 21 last year, where they found 577.5g marijuana and bud along with a bong, an unauthorised telescopic baton and cryovac machine belonging to Marcus Hugh Wilmot stashed away in a shed.

The 47-year-old told officers he used the drugs to self-medicate for various health concerns and the cryovac machine to seal it in bags to help it last longer.

It was only months later on February 23 that Wilmot was caught with another 247g marijuana, a grinder, and scissors with drug residue at Severnlea, claiming this supply would have lasted him about six months.

Wilmot was found to have breached bail on October 26 and November 2 and 3.

Defence lawyer Corey Cullen told the Stanthorpe court that his client had used marijuana since he was about 17, with this particular spate of offending driven by the recent death of his older brother and underlying trauma from losing another brother and two close friends some eight years prior.

“He would consent to probation as it would give him access to counselling he’s never had before to address these traumatic issues in his life,” Mr Cullen said.

Magistrate Virginia Cullen said she was hesitant to grant the order based on Wilmot’s history of drug offending and continued drug use despite pending charges at the time, but eventually conceded it could be his best chance of rehabilitation.

Wilmot pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching bail, two counts of possessing dangerous drugs and drug utensils, and one each of possessing restricted items and possessing an item used in the commission of a crime.

He was placed on probation for 15 months.

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A repeat drug offender has walked away from court with a $300 fine after he was once again busted with drugs and paraphernalia.

Police discovered 5g marijuana in a glass bowl and 80 marijuana seeds belonging to Raymond Frederick Glenroy Darcy when they searched a Manning St home on April 20.

The Stanthorpe Magistrates Court heard Darcy had several previous drug-related convictions and was serving a suspended jail sentence at the time of the raid, but had already been resentenced for the breach.

Darcy pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing dangerous drugs and possessing drug utensils.

NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED

A Stanthorpe teenager nabbed carrying a swag of party drugs and assaulting a police officer during his arrest on the same day has fronted court.

Jake Allan Stewart was first busted by police on Lock St just before 5pm on March 5, with officers locating a small amount of a crystal substance later found to be MDMA and a number of clip seal bags.

Stanthorpe Magistrates Court heard the 19-year-old told police he had previously been selling drugs and the items were just left over.

It was only hours later at about 11.30pm that Stewart was kicked out of the Hotel Stanthorpe and police were called to the scene, finding a bag with a large number of MDMA tablets weighing 24.1g concealed beneath the waistband of his underwear.

Stewart was offered the opportunity to call his mother but then refused to hand over his phone to police, continuing to text unknown persons and then physically resisting officers when they tried to take the phone from him.

The conflict escalated until the teenager punched one of the officers in the face and violently struggled against another before eventually being taken into custody.

Defence lawyer Corey Cullen asked that his client be offered a probation order to aid his rehabilitation, saying Stewart was hoping to focus on his work in the earthmoving industry.

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess warned Stewart he had already been dealt with previously for producing drugs, and noted his previous court appearances had done little to deter him from reoffending.

“There’s obviously an ongoing drug issue with you here, and I can certainly tell you that the case law says even young people in possession of significant quantities of drugs can be sentenced to jail, even with no criminal history,” she said.

“If you are embarking on a future of drug dealing, Mr Stewart, this is the time to stop, because it’s not a future you want.”

Stewart pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one each of assaulting police, obstructing police, and possessing drug utensils.

No conviction was recorded.

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A young Southern Downs man has been urged to make his first run-in with the law his last after he was busted lining up a stack of drug deals.

Bailey Stephen Smith’s mobile phone was seized when police raided a Wilson St home on February 23, with officers finding several Facebook Messenger conversations showing Smith offering to supply marijuana to four different people on five occasions.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa told Stanthorpe Magistrates Court that the offers were mostly small amounts worth about $50 each.

“This is what we often see, where people buy an amount of (marijuana) and then pass that on to recoup the amount they’ve outlaid so that they can smoke for free,” he said.

Defence lawyer Hamish Chapman said the 18-year-old had a clean criminal history and had not reoffended since being caught.

“He didn’t really appreciate the gravity of what he was engaging in,” he said.

“I think he’s now got a greater appreciation for the level of trouble he could have very easily found himself in.”

Smith copped a stern warning from magistrate Virginia Sturgess, who told him drugs were the root cause of many other crimes within the community.

“You’re selling drugs to others – that makes you a drug dealer, and it’s not a very attractive term,” she said.

“Plenty of people steal, steal money or drugs to sell or trade, and that then becomes a problem for the wider community.”

Smith pleaded guilty to five counts of supplying a dangerous drug and one of possessing an item used in the commission of an offence.

He was placed on probation for 12 months and no conviction was recorded.

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Tarra Clair Volkman fronted Warwick Magistrates Court after she was busted with a small stash of marijuana.

Police were called to a disturbance at a Warwick home on February 8, and during a later search of the house found 2.6g marijuana inside a handbag in the bedroom.

Volkman then went to the Stanthorpe police station close to three months later to claim ownership of the drug, saying she’d had it since July and last used the drug in December, then forgotten it was in her house.

Duty lawyer Clare Hine told the Warwick court that Volkman was using the drug to cope with a serious domestic violence situation, but had since stopped smoking it entirely.

Volkman pleaded guilty to one count of possessing dangerous drugs.

She was fined $200 and no conviction was recorded.