Prison guard charged with drug trafficking given bail to attend rehab

A former Corrective Services officer accused of drug trafficking has been granted bail to attend an eight-month rehabilitation program.

Police raid the Yeppoon house last year.

A former Corrective Services officer accused of drug trafficking has been granted bail to attend an eight-month rehabilitation program.

Police allegedly discovered over 1kg of methamphetamine when they raided Stephen Gary Crisp’s home at Yeppoon on the Central Queensland coast last August.

A loaded gun, a pistol silencer, ammunition and other drug-related equipment were also allegedly found at the property.

Crisp, a former Corrective Services officer, had previously been refused Supreme Court bail on two occasions.

He is facing 11 charges including trafficking and possessing dangerous drugs.

The Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday heard Crisp, 38, had been accepted into an eight-month residential rehabilitation program to help him recover from drug addiction.

Justice Peter Davis said places in such programs were difficult to get accepted into.

“I must say in the circumstances there’s the purely social benefit aspect of this that these spots in these clinics are pretty hard to come by and if somebody’s got one I think in the overall interest of justice and social interest it’s a pretty big move to prevent him from taking it up,” he said.

At a previous bail application, lawyers for Crisp said they held concerns for his safety if held in custody due to his previous career as a Corrective Services officer.

Justice Davis granted Crisp’s bail application on conditions including that he attend the rehabilitation program.

He will then live at an address approved by the Director of Public Prosecutions once he has completed the eight-month program.

“In my view the risks have been ameliorated to an acceptable level by the conditions,” Justice Davis said.

Originally published as Prison guard charged with drug trafficking given bail to attend rehab