DRUG DAD: ‘I did destroy lives and I feel bad for that’

A father of four who plead guilty to selling ice has told a court he sold drugs to pay for his own 0.5g a day addiction

A father of four who sold ice to support his own addiction has faced Grafton District Court. Photo: File

A GRAFTON man who was detected selling ice by strike force detectives investigating an unrelated matter has told a court he was remorseful for his actions.

Aaron Raymond Godwin, 39, appeared in Grafton District Court yesterday for sentence after pleading guilty to supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis.

The court heard that between June 20 and July 20 last year Godwin sold a total of 3.7g of methylamphetamine.

Godwin also plead guilty to two other charges of supplying 0.5g of methylamphetamine on August 1 and 7, and possessing 2.37g of methylamphetamine and 0.094g of cocaine, as well as possessing goods suspected of being stolen.

In 2018 NSW Police formed Strike Force Kiowa to investigate an unrelated matter which saw police identify a series of drug suppliers in the Grafton and South Grafton areas.

About 8.30am on August 8 last year, officers from Coffs/Clarence Police District, with assistance from operational support units, conducted four search warrants at homes in Grafton, South Grafton and Halfway Creek and Godwin was arrested.

In Grafton District Court on Wednesday, Godwin's barrister Peter Davies submitted that his client, a father of four, had no fixed place of abode at the time of the offences and had used all the money gained from selling drugs to continue his own addiction.

Giving evidence to the court, Godwin said he has smoked marijuana "pretty much all my life" but had only started using methylamphetamine about six months before he started selling the drug following a break-up with his de facto partner and mother of two of his children.

Godwin told the court after that break-up "things just turned bad for me" and at the height of his addiction was using 0.5g of ice daily.

"I did destroy lives and I'm sorry for that," Godwin said.

Mr Davies told the court there was no evidence Godwin's offences were part of any organised activity, and that he used the entirety of the money raised for his own habit.

The court also heard that Godwin had been bail refused for the offences since August last year, and had abstained from any drug use while in jail.

Mr Davies submitted his client's actions were below the mid-range level of objective seriousness, he conceded his client was on an intensive corrections order at the time of the offences.

Judge Clive Jeffreys adjourned the sentencing to next week.

Originally published as