Harley James Pearson: Ipswich scaffolder guilty of drug trafficking
A Brisbane rugby league player formerly of Ipswich also cited his own addiction to the drug as being behind his decision to set up shop.
South West
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A Brisbane scaffolder formerly of Ipswich, where he turned out for many years for local rugby league clubs, set up a drug-trafficking operation to help pay for his rent after an injury prevented him from working, a court has heard.
However, Richlands man Harley James Pearson, 24, also conceded to police he had a nasty cannabis dependency, which also fuelled his decision to start moving the drug en masse.
Pearson pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Tuesday to offences of drug trafficking and supplying a Schedule 2 dangerous drug.
The trafficking was detected following a police search warrant executed on August 21 last year.
Pearson was discovered in possession of 86g of cannabis, a bong, other drug paraphernalia and a point of methamphetamine, for which he has already been dealt with by the courts.
Analysis of his mobile phone uncovered the trafficking, which occurred between July 10 and his arrest, and a discrete cannabis supply earlier on April 28.
In the 42-day trafficking period, Pearson supplied cannabis 83 times to 48 customers.
Pearson admitted to police he made a $400 profit for every $2500 of cannabis he moved, the court heard.
Defence counsel Rob Carroll told the court his client’s operation was driven by two imperatives.
Firstly, that his client had a “problem” with cannabis, smoking it the morning of the search warrant; secondly, that his client, a scaffolder with a good work history, had been unable to work due to a sporting injury and was struggling to pay his rent.
Mr Carroll told the court his client had moved back in with his supportive mother and returned to work with a company with which he has a good relationship.
He further submitted his client had mental health problems, including PTSD suffered in the wake of a fall from scaffolding, which would make incarceration onerous.
Pearson was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with immediate release on parole.
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