Dylan Fieldsend: Dubbo drug dealer sentenced for selling ice

A career criminal responsible for fuelling the “rampant” supply of meth to hundreds of people says he sold it for self-interest and because junkies were harassing him.

A Dubbo drug dealer who was caught selling ice and weed to hundreds of customers claims he did it to pay for his own habit which started after a tough childhood.

Dylan James Fieldsend, 34, pleaded guilty to multiple drug supply offences in May 2021 after police caught him selling 42.5 grams of ice and 67.4 grams of cannabis to hundreds of customers from a home on Davidson Drive in East Dubbo.

Dylan Fieldsend was convicted of a string of offences. Picture: Facebook

According to court documents, undercover police who were watching the home observed hundreds of people show up for drug deals over a two-week period in the first half of 2020.

Police also obtained a plethora of evidence, including bank records, Facebook and phone records, which showed Fieldsend was a drug dealer.

Appearing in the Dubbo District Court on Tuesday via audiovisual link from Bathurst jail, Fieldsend said he used drugs to cope with trauma suffered during childhood and that he was now receiving medical injections in jail to help reduce his dependence.

“I’ve tried a drug treatment before but I didn’t stay on it,” he said.

“This time I’ve been on it for three to four months … I think this time I feel like it is going to help me.”

Fieldsend, a father of three, said another motivator for him to get on top of his drug addiction was his children.

“I haven’t had anything to do with them,” he said.

“I’ve got three children to two different mums.

“I’ve seen a psychiatrist when I was 18, they diagnosed me with ADHD.”

Dylan Fieldsend remains behind bars. Picture: Facebook

Fieldsend said another mental health professional later diagnosed him with drug-induced psychosis and he used drugs to cope with trauma he suffered as a child.

When asked why he started selling ice and cannabis, Fieldsend said he did it to pay for his own drug habit and meet consumer demand.

“People were harassing me to get drugs when I didn’t want to sell the drugs to them, I wanted to keep them for myself … I knew it was wrong … they were going to get it elsewhere,” he said.

“I didn’t want to run out of drugs. In my head I required the drugs and I didn’t want to miss out on having the drugs.”

“My hope is to rehabilitate and to be able to get contact with my children, to get out and help care for my mum and be supportive to her for once, try and get active employment and stay there.”

Crown solicitor Hallie Warnock said Fieldsend had a history of repeatedly breaching court orders and that record put the community at risk.

“He was on parole and conditional liberty at the time of the commissioning of these offences,” Ms Warnock said.

“His record shows a propensity to not follow court orders and it puts the community at risk of reoffending.”

Defence lawyer Andrew Rolfe asked Judge Nanette Williams to make a finding of special circumstances because Fieldsend had experienced social disadvantage, suffered mental ill health and had to endure more onerous conditions in custody because of the Covid pandemic.

“His primary goal was as a user and he was dealing in order to fund his use of drugs,” Mr Rolfe said.

“He has a lengthy criminal history … he’s spent a significant portion of his adult life in custody.”

After reading out portions of Fieldsend’s criminal record, Judge Williams said it was “fair to say there are a significant number of entries”.

Judge Williams said after looking at the numbers police crunched, she did some “basic maths” and concluded that “there must have been on average 23 people coming to buy drugs” every day from Fieldsend.

“I can only imagine what the neighbours thought,” she said.

“I don’t find that the offending was committed for financial gain for a number of reasons … there was no sum of cash found.

“This court has considered and is very mindful of the effects of the distribution of methylamphetamine in regional NSW. The supply of methylamphetamine in regional NSW is rampant.”

Dylan Fieldsend said he was a father of three who wanted to stay off drugs and turn his life around. Picture: Facebook

Judge Williams said she was impressed by the evidence Filedsend gave.

“He’s a relatively young man, he hasn’t had the benefit of even going to Year 12, he left school very young. In spite of that I found him to be articulate and he showed insight into his offending behaviour.

“It’s been a long road of drug addiction with very little light along the road

“This court knows full well that the road to rehabilitation with drug addiction is very often two steps forward and one step back. It seems that the offender has just been taking one step back for a considerable period of time and that does show a gloomy countenance.”

Despite Fieldsend’s record, Judge Williams said evidence had been submitted which showed he embraced the medical injection program to deal with drug addiction.

“He impressed me as a young man who has come to a point where he’s realised that being in custody is a mug’s game frankly, and that he wants to get out and change his life and turn it around, achieve things and be a proper role model for his children,” she said.

“He could even be an elder within his community and provide guidance to other people who fall by the way … given the right framework.”

Judge Williams said Fieldsend suffered significant social deprivation as the son of a single parent who fled a toxic relationship in Bourke for a life on her own with children in Dubbo

“His drug use became very well entrenched early in his life and he’s not been able to overcome it in spite of the fact that there have been opportunities along the way,” she said.

Fieldsend was sentenced to 20 months in jail, backdated to September 28, 2020.

The imposition of a 12-month non-parole meant Fieldsend became eligible for parole on Monday

Despite this, Judge Williams said Fieldsend was on remand and bail refused because of “other matters” which would “not be determined in the near future”.

He remains behind bars.