Aaron Philippe-Collett: Byron Bay cocaine dealer gets jail time after Lismore District Court sentence

An eco-conscious bricklayer’s drug addiction was a mystery to his friends as he went on week-long health and meditation retreats and volunteered in his community.

​While Judge McLennan had sympathy for his health conditions, he noted Philippe-Collett’s actions were to be “denounced”.

A self-proclaimed health guru who actively volunteered in the Byron community has been jailed over his double life as a cocaine dealer.

Aaron Philippe-Collett, 45, faced sentencing in Lismore District Court on August 24 after pleading guilty to supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis.

Additional charges included two counts of supplying a prohibited drug, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug, dealing with the proceeds of crime and obstructing or hindering a person with a warrant.

The court heard the Ewingsdale bricklayer supplied cocaine as a way to fuel his own addiction and was caught out supplying to undercover cops on more than three occasions.

During those sales, Philippe-Collett sold officers $1650 worth of cocaine.

He also offered to supply one ounce, around $7500 or $8000 worth of the drug, but could not fulfil the offer as his Gold Coast supplier had “shut up shop”.

On January 23, 2020, the Northern Rivers Region Enforcement Squad formed Strike Force Curreeki investigated allegations of cocaine supply in the Byron Bay area and executed a warrant of Philippe-Collett’s house.

When he saw police arriving, he ran to toss the cocaine over his home’s railing but police still found 8.36g of the drug.

They also located a scales, ziplock bags, cannabis, a small vial of methamphetamine and a calculator.

During proceedings, it was noted that Philippe-Collett had been “plagued by skin cancer for the better part of a decade” and had four tumours currently in need of medical attention.

His solicitor David Heilpern argued the severity of Philippe-Collet’s condition and his ongoing treatment warranted he face an Intensive Correction Order over jail time.

“That treatment would of course be interrupted by both inspection and ability to utilise that medication were he to be sentenced to a term of full time imprisonment,” he said.

“It is overeating the pudding to say he is dying but not overeating to say unless he receives close and vigilant care, the risk of his illness getting vastly more serious, not hypothetically, is more likely than not.”

Mr Heilpern added the man had been shamed by the public nature of his arrest and lost his house as a result.

“This is someone who has given very generously of his time and energy over decades,” he said.

“He is not a wealthy man driving around in a fast car, he lives a humble and quiet life.

“He is at little to no risk of reoffending.”

Judge Jeffery McLennan noted Philippe-Collett was viewed as an “eco-conscious” man committed to a healthy life, who at times went on week-long health retreats.

A close friend of the man noted in his reference he had seen Philippe-Collett get caught up in the “alcohol-soaked culture of the construction industry”.

Still, he said many viewed Phillipe-Collett’s cocaine addiction as a “mystery”.

“Perhaps there are two sides to Mr Philippe-Collett,” he said,

While Judge McLennan had sympathy for his health conditions, he noted Philippe-Collett’s actions were to be “denounced”.

“The fact of the matter is his behaviour was criminal and harmful for the community,” he said.

He convicted Philippe-Collett and sentenced him to two years and eight months in jail.

He will be released on parole on December 23, 2022.