Tuggerah: Bradley Michael Power pleaded guilty to manufacturing commercial quantity of meth
A panel beater is facing jail after allowing a mate to allegedly cook “meth” in the spray painting booth of his custom hot rod shop at Tuggerah, a court has heard.
Central Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Central Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Covid downturn in 2020 and a penchant for cocaine forced a panel beater into letting his mate allegedly manufacture methamphetamine in the spray painting booth of his Tuggerah shop for “$5000 and car parts”, a court has heard.
Bradley Michael Power faced Gosford District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to one count of manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
The court heard Power was snorting between $600-$1000 worth of cocaine a week while his Cool Az Hotrods Shop on Ace Crescent was struggling under the global Covid pandemic.
The court heard Power agreed to let a friend he’d known for 10 years cook “ice” in the spray painting booth of his workshop one weekend in July, 2020, “to keep his head above water in a time of financial stress”.
However, unbeknown to Power, officers from the NSW Organised Crime Squad and the NSW Crime Commission attached to Strike Force Collarene, had him and his mate under surveillance.
An agreed set of facts states officers tracked Power and his mate as they came and went from Power’s workshop at 2/27 Ace Crescent and another nearby workshop in the days leading up to their arrest.
The pair were also captured under surveillance buying up to 12 bags of ice at a time from various service stations along with 25kg of caustic soda from Town and Country Chemicals at Ourimbah and a bucket, funnel and other items from Bunnings at Tuggerah.
Police arrested Power on Saturday, July 11, 2020, and he spent 40 days in custody before he was granted bail.
Officers searched Power’s Cool Az Hotrods shop on July 12, 2020, and found the spray painting booth had been converted into a clandestine laboratory used to make at least 0.5kg of methylamphetamine, which the court heard was the minimum amount to be classified a “large commercial quantity”.
On Monday the court heard the now 49-year-old’s long term drug use had cost him personal relationships and a successful seafood business, which he ran until his incarceration in 2014 for larceny.
The court heard Power, a panel beater and spray painter by trade, then started Cool Az Hotrods at Tuggerah which had survived the Covid downturn and now employed four full-time staff.
“The offender’s role was to allow (his mate) to use the spray booth at his work premises to undertake the manufacture of methamphetamine between 10-11 July, 2020,” Judge Sharon Harris said.
“The offender was aware that at least a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine was manufactured in his spray booth … the offender was to receive a few thousand dollars and possibly some spare car parts for his participation.”
Judge Harris said she was satisfied of Power’s remorse and that his prospects of rehabilitation were “excellent”.
She said she intended to send him to jail for two years but adjourned the matter until February for Power to undergo a sentence assessment report to see if he is eligible to serve the sentence by way of an intensive corrections order in the community.
Meanwhile his mate has pleaded not guilty to manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and three counts of supply.
He will face trial in June 2023.
New charges: Former life coach denies assaulting teen girls
A former “life coach” has denied sexually and indecently assaulting young teenage girls. It comes as two new victims have come forward prompting further charges, a court has heard.
Read more
Trial date set for truckie involved in fatal crash
A truck driver will face trial almost two years to the day after he was involved in a crash which killed a 17-year-old P-plater and seriously injured a woman, 46.
Read more