Umina Beach: Mark Chartres-Abbott, Deborah Mulholland and Dean Phillips face sentence on guns, drugs offences
A chance meeting with an old acquaintance dragged a couple back into a “world of drugs” which unravelled when a customer introduced them to an undercover officer, a court has heard.
Central Coast
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Mark Chartres-Abbott, aka `Norm Smith’, was on the methadone program and was working as a roofer “until a chance meeting with someone” saw him become “reinvolved in the drug milieu”, a court has heard.
The 65-year-old was one of three people who faced a sentencing hearing at Gosford District Court on Friday charged with a raft of drug and firearms offences.
His barrister Jack Tyler-Stott told the court Chartres-Abbott’s meeting with the old acquaintance dragged him back into the “world of drugs” and his renewed dependence forced him to become a slave to his upline suppliers.
In a handwritten letter tendered to the court, Chartres-Abbott said he was forced to supply drugs by bikies.
“My role became a burden,” he wrote. “I didn’t have the strength to stop it.”
A set of agreed police facts tendered to court state Brisbane Water Police established Strike Force Basic to investigate the supply of the drug ‘ice’ at Woy Woy and surrounding areas in November 2018.
In March police were granted authorisation to plant an undercover officer who befriended Dean William Maxwell Phillips, who was known to Chartres-Abbott but was not the old acquaintance who dragged Chartres-Abbott back into the world of drugs.
The court heard 39-year-old Phillips, of Woy Woy, was also addicted to drugs and would purchase drugs from Chartres-Abbott and on-sell them to his own customers.
Using Phillips as a go-between the officer purchased 6.75g of ‘ice’ for $1200 and an imitation Walther Model PP pistol for $1100.
The officer then purchased a shortened .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire Stirling model repeating rifle and $4000 worth of methylamphetamine and heroin.
But by April the undercover officer was pressuring Phillips to introduce him to his supplier but Phillips said “He’s a very private man, he’s not gonna do it, he’s trying to get small”.
After a number of other purchases Phillips agreed to introduce the undercover officer to Chartres-Abbott.
Police facts state the officer met Chartres-Abbott on two occasions to purchase 168g bags of methylamphetamine for $23,400 each.
Chartres-Abbott’s partner, 54-year-old Deborah Mulholland, lived with him at the Lentara Rd house at Umina Beach and according to the police facts was present each time and helped him weigh out the drugs.
On May 24 police raided their Umina Beach home and found two shortened .22 calibre rifles and a 12 gauge Harrington shotgun buried in PVC pipes in the backyard.
Police also seized $94,285 in cash, digital scales, money counter, 888.79g of MDMA, 368.8g of heroin and 10mL of anabolic steroid.
During the search Chartres-Abbott told police bikies dropped the drugs off to him and were going to collect the money but refused to tell officers who “did the drop” as he knew “what’s gonna f...ing happen to (him) if (he said) anything”, the facts read.
Chartres-Abbott later pleaded guilty to supplying 1,177.63g of methylamphetamine, 287g of heroin, three counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Mulholland pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a total of 321.4g of methylamphetamine and one count of possessing a prohibited drug after police found 17g of cannabis in her bedside drawer.
Phillips was arrested a month later and pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying commercial quantities of drugs and unlawfully selling three firearms within 12 months.
He also pleaded guilty to a further commercial supply charge, knowingly take part in the supply of drugs and possessing an unregistered firearm — offences which will be taken into account on a Form 1 certificate when he is sentenced.
All three offenders will be sentenced on August 28.