Stevan Firic: Brisbane 8/9th RAR veteran jailed for drug offences

A Brisbane veteran who served in Afghanistan, East Timor and Malaysia has been sentenced to jail for serious drug offending involving a cocktail of illicit substances.

A Brisbane veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan, as well as in Malaysia, East Timor and during the 2010–11 floods, descended into addiction and dealing due to “anxiety and trauma”, a court has heard.

Fortitude Valley man Stevan Firic, 37, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday to six indictable and 10 summary offences.

They included, most seriously, two counts of possessing a commercial quantity methamphetamine, one count of supplying the drug, and multiple counts of possessing dangerous drugs, namely ketamine, MDMA, LSD and cannabis.

Among his summary offences included possessing a knife in a public place, two charges of obstructing police, contravening a direction of police, and possessing drug utensils, a needle and syringe, and other drug paraphernalia.

The court heard Firic’s offences largely occurred on two occasions, February 28 and April 23 last year.

On the first occasion, Firic was pulled over in Fortitude Valley for a traffic stop.

His car was searched after police saw a knife handle protruding from his pocket and a large clipseal in his waistband, the court heard.

In total, Firic was discovered in possession of 2.48g pure meth in 2.9g of substance, 1.462g pure MDMA in 2.19g of substance, a cardboard sheet of LSD, and a number of empty clipseal bags in his underwear.

A search of his unit later that night uncovered 0.9g of cocaine.

Fortitude Valley veteran Stevan Firic, 37. Picture: Instagram

A second search on his unit was performed about two months later, on April 23 last year.

When police opened the door, Firic sprinted towards his bedroom in an attempt to throw items out his open window.

He was detained after a struggle where an officer’s shirt was ripped, the court heard.

Near his bed, officers discovered a large knife magnetically attached to the back of a door.

Officers also discovered six clipseal bags inside a cigarette packet containing 4.23g pure meth in 5.55g of substance and 2.55g of ketamine.

The unit also contained a small quantity of cannabis and multiple drug utensils and other paraphernalia.

Analysis of his mobile phone revealed he had supplied meth in the previous fortnight.

Firic was remanded in pre-sentence custody and has spent the intervening period, a total of 501 days, in jail.

Defence counsel Adam Mason told the court his Sydney-born client was a decorated veteran who served in the army from the late 2000s until February 2019, when he was voluntarily discharged.

Firic was a rifleman attached to the 8/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, based at Enoggera, the court heard.

His service record included deployments to East Timor’s capital Dili as part of Operation Astute in 2010; deployment to the Gatton-Toowoomba area in late-2010 for Operation Flood Assist; and to Malaysia in 2018 with Rifle Company Butterworth, where he was a Section Commander in exercises involving Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.

In addition to this, he served two tours of Afghanistan, in December 2011 – July 2012, where he was attached to the 4th Mentoring Task Force, and again from January – August 2016 as part of Operation Highroad.

Mr Mason told the court both Afghanistan tours involved going ‘outside the wire’ “almost daily”, carried a high risk of “insider attacks”, and involved many discoveries of IED explosive devices and weapons caches.

Firic still nurses multiple injuries from his army career, the court heard.

Mr Mason said his client had had a relationship with alcohol since his early twenties, which progressed to hard drugs upon his discharge, when he began working in the security industry.

He began using hard drugs, including MDMA, ice, cocaine and fantasy, almost daily, taking “whatever he could get his hands on,” in the words of Justice Martin Burns.

A psychological report tendered to the court concluded Firic’s substance abuse “may be masking anxiety or trauma”.

Justice Burns agreed wholeheartedly.

“It’s not a complex story, it’s an understandable one,” he told the court.

“He faced mortal danger during all the tours he undertook.

“There’s a reason why someone who comes from such a good family with such an exemplary military record (is facing charges such as these).”

Justice Burns revised Firic’s sentence down from four years’ imprisonment to two-and-a-half years, while not declaring his 501 days already served behind bars, so as to grant him immediate court-ordered parole.

However, the court heard he would remain behind bars due to an outstanding charge of arson, next before the courts in about fortnight, which Firic is contesting.