’As soon as meth got him, it gripped him’: Carseldine tradie sentenced to prison on drugs charges

The man’s serious drug addiction began when he was just 18 and quickly spiralled out of control.

A Carseldine man has been sentenced to six months imprisonment after a police search of his home revealed a veritable buffet of dangerous drugs hidden in his bedside table.

Braidon Daniel Halcrow, 25, pleaded guilty to seven charges at the Sandgate Magistrates Court this week, including several counts of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug utensils and receiving property reasonably suspected to have been stolen.

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Lawyer for the defence Rhys Foster from KLM solicitors told the court Halcrow suffered from a “serious drug addiction” which began with cannabis use when he was 18 and became a whole lot worse when friends introduced him to methamphetamines at the age of 22.

“As soon as it got him, it gripped him, as meth tends to do,” Mr Foster said.

“He’s made genuine attempts at getting clean but (it has) eluded him at this stage.”

Braidon Daniel Halcrow when he first came to the attention of the courts in 2014.

The court heard Halcrow first came before the courts in 2014 and has repeatedly returned on drug-related charges since, racking up fines, periods of community service and probation, but never a recorded conviction.

On this occasion, a police search at his home in Carseldine at 10am on May 10 revealed a clip seal bag containing 5.96g of cannabis, a clip seal bag containing .45g of MDMA and a third bag containing .34g of methamphetamines, according to police prosecutor Sergeant Troy Newman.

There was also a black fabric case containing three glass pipes, all of which had been used to smoke meth, and a bong beside the bed, used to smoke cannabis.

A custom built, one-of-a-kind mountain bike, worth $1500, was also located in Halcrow’s bedroom.

It had been reported stolen from a home in Nundah on March 7.

The court heard Halcrow told police he had bought the bike online, claimed he did not have a receipt, and then printed out a “suspicious” looking receipt to police.

Braidon Daniel Halcrow appeared 45 minutes late to his hearing at the Sandgate Magistrates Court today, telling his lawyer he had "only just woken up".

A second police search warrant conducted on June 20 uncovered a pipe used to smoke drugs, digital scales with white crystal residue, straws used on spoons and several clip seal bags.

In Halcrow’s bedside table there was a small Tic Tac container containing two Xanax tablets, a restricted drug he did not have a prescription for.

During the third, and final, search of Halcrow’s home on July 1 police officers found a bowl containing 2g of cannabis, eight 5mg diazepam tablets Halcrow had no prescription for and a number of clip seal bags.

Halcrow, who is a fully qualified painter and decorator who graduated from Aspley State High School, was on probation for like-matters during the period of offending.

He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison, wholly suspended for 18 months.

Magistrate Jennifer Batts told Halcrow this case would prove to be a “very serious turning point” in his life.

“It will be a positive turning point, hopefully, but that’s very much up to you,” she said.