Nathaniel Alexander Mepham: Orange miner caught with steroids after flicking cigarette at police

A 25-year-old miner from Orange who was initially caught drink driving became argumentative before flicking a cigarette at police. Here’s the full story.

Nathaniel Mepham appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

An Orange miner flicked a cigarette at an officer before being found with illegal steroids in his car, a court has heard.

Nathaniel Alexander Mepham, 25, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday, pleading guilty to assault officer in execution of duty and possess prescribed restricted substance.

According to an agreed set of facts tendered to court, Mepham was driving in a silver Mitsubishi Lancer on Cobra St in Dubbo before being pulled over by police for a random breath test.

Nathaniel Mepham was convicted in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

After producing his P-plate licence to police, Mepham returned a positive reading of 0.051 and he was subsequently arrested.

When escorted to the back of the police vehicle, Mepham became “very argumentative” and was adamant about finishing his cigarette.

Following multiple attempts to convince Mepham to get into the car, police “stepped forward” to grab his cigarette.

Mepham shaped up to police before being pushed into the back of the car where he then flicked the cigarette and narrowly missed the face of one of the officers. He was then conveyed to Dubbo police station

Upon searching Mepham, a small clear resealable bag containing white powder was found in his wallet, with police suspecting it to be a prohibited substance – but initial checks came back inconclusive.

Further checks on Mepham revealed he had previously been charged with drug related offences and police believed there may be prohibited drugs in his car.

In searching Mepham’s Mitsubishi Lancer, police found six blister packs containing a total of 51 white circle tablets – labelled ‘AP’ – without a box or prescription.

Police also found a bottle labelled ‘Nolva Tamoxifen’ with three green and white capsules inside.

The blister packs were seized and sent away to be analysed to determine “what they were”.

After undergoing a breath analysis at the police station, Mepham was issued with an infringement notice for ‘drive while being over the prescribed concentration of alcohol required for his licence class’ and later released from custody.

Dubbo Police Station. Picture: Ryan Young

On October 4, police received official results, where the lab tested one tablet from each blister pack.

“The results revealed that two of the blister packs contained a substance called methandienone,” agreed facts reveal.

“These two blister packs contained a total of sixteen tablets.

“The other three blister packs contained a substance called oxandrolone [and] these three blister packs contained a total of 35 tablets.

“Both substances are listed as a steroid in the special restricted substances list and the prescribed substances list found in the NSW Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008.”

On Wednesday, Mepham’s lawyer Arthur Nguyen said each matter fell towards the lower end of objective seriousness.

Although noting his client had “previously been in custody for very serious offences” in February 2020, Mr Nguyen described Mepham’s criminal history as “quite limited”.

“Other than that serious offence before the court … Mepham still has good prospects of rehabilitation,” Mr Nguyen said.

He told the court Mepham works at the Nyngan mines and part of his income goes towards paying child support for his child.

“He tells me what he did on August 13 was a silly mistake, and he is sorry for what he has done,” Mr Nguyen said.

“His plea of guilty has shown his contrition.”

In sentencing Mepham, Magistrate Gary Wilson recorded a conviction and $500 for each offence.

“All of this could have been easily avoided but you chose the other course,” Magistrate Wilson concluded.