Caleb Hardacre: Carindale drug dealer in court for car full of cash
A young Brisbane drug dealer almost caused a traffic accident attempting to escape police, a court has heard.
Southeast
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An “intelligent” aspiring Brisbane architect swerved across two lanes of incoming traffic to avoid police, fearful they would discover his car boot full of cash and drugs, a court has heard
Carindale man Caleb Thomas Hardacre, 21, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Monday to three offences.
They included possessing cannabis, cocaine and Diazepam; possessing $1445 suspected of being the proceeds of crime; and possessing drug-related items, including clipseal bags and gelatine capsules.
The court heard Hardacre’s illicit business was discovered on May 5 last year at Mount Gravatt East.
Hardacre, a P-plater who was not displaying his plates, “abruptly” swerved across two lanes of traffic, forcing oncoming vehicles to take evasive action, to avoid police, the court heard.
After a “short chase”, he was pulled over, with police spying a quantity of cannabis on his back seat and the strong odour of the drug permeating his vehicle.
A search of his boot uncovered seven bags of cannabis, totalling 165g; the cash, secreted in various locations; a bottle of Diazepam, containing 22 capsules; the drug paraphernalia; and a bag containing 0.22g of powder, analysis of which revealed it contained a small amount of pure cocaine.
Hardacre refused to provide the passcode for his mobile phone, the court heard.
It was accepted the drugs were for a mixed commercial/personal purpose, with the court hearing Hardacre was a regular user of cannabis “at least”.
In the year since being charged, Hardacre had breached bail on multiple occasions, the court heard, in what defence counsel Matt Jackson described as “skirmishes”, and for which Hardacre will be sentenced on July 15.
Mr Jackson told the court his client was currently enrolled in TAFE Queensland, studying a dual science/writing course, and had aspirations of attending university to study architecture.
Mr Jackson said Hardacre was only selling cannabis commercially.
Judge Richard Jones told the court Hardacre was “intelligent” enough to know the havoc drugs wrought on people’s lives.
Hardacre was placed on two years’ probation with no convictions recorded.
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