Shayne Watson: Ex-town planner spiralled before selling drugs

Shayne Watson worked respectable government jobs both in NSW and New Zealand. But his world came tumbling down when cops uncovered a staggering haul of drugs in his apartment.

For most of his life, Shayne Watson was a respectable and hardworking member of the community.

The 53 year old held down jobs as a town planner both in his native New Zealand and NSW and also worked in other government roles.

However, a court heard this week he spiralled out of control following a redundancy and the breakdown of a long-term relationship.

Shayne Michael Watson. Picture: Facebook

During 2017 and 2018, Watson formed a daily meth habit and he turned to supplying drugs in 2019.

A court heard a police investigation was set up to investigate his “unsophisticated” drug business based out of his Surry Hills apartment.

Court documents revealed buyers were monitored by police coming and going from his Reservoir St home and buying small amounts of drugs on 19 occasions throughout February 2020, including meth, MDMA, and GBL – also known as liquid ecstasy.

“The offender was observed communicating with customers, negotiating orders and directing customers to attend his residence in order to supply prohibited drugs,” the agreed facts stated.

He was also spotted by police handing over a large amount of GBL (1.1kg) to another man inside a backpack in October 2019.

Shayne Watson. Picture: Facebook

His drug operation came crashing down when police raided his home and uncovered a huge stash of drugs scattered across his apartment.

The staggering list of drugs and goods seized at his apartment and a nearby storage unit included over 760g of GBL, 40g of meth, nearly $200,000 in cash, a small amount of ketamine, cocaine and cannabis, and scales.

Laptops and electronic storage devices were also seized from his apartment and police later uncovered 13 images of child sexual abuse.

Watson, an Australian citizen, later pleaded guilty to four serious charges including two counts of supply a prohibited drug, one count of supply prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis, and possess child abuse material.

A string of other drug charges were taken into account as Form 1 offences during his sentencing in the NSW District Court on Thursday.

Watson (pictured) was jailed for the offences. Picture: Facebook

Judge Christopher O’Brien convicted him and sentenced him to four years imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.

Judge O’Brien took into account his previous clean record and his good prospects of rehabilitation in setting the reduced non-parole period.

Watson will be eligible for release in February 2022 having already spent over a year behind bars.

While Watson pleaded guilty and was convicted for possessing child abuse material, Judge O’Brien accepted the offender’s evidence, from an earlier hearing, that the images found on a storage device had been downloaded among other pornographic material and he did not intentionally access the child abuse images.