Edney McFarland: Long Bay Covid outbreak delays sentencing

The lawyer for a Sydney man arrested in a multimillion-dollar drugs bust claims a prison Covid outbreak is preventing his client from being sentenced.

A Covid outbreak at a Sydney prison has delayed the sentencing of a man whom a magistrate earlier said could be jailed “for life” over charges relating to a multimillion-dollar drugs bust.

Edney McFarland, 29, from Fairfield, was due to be sentenced at the Downing Centre on Friday for his part in manufacturing 338g of the drug ice and aiding in the manufacture of a prohibited drug.

He also pleaded guilty to importing a marketable quantity of cocaine at Granville in early 2020, and attempting to possess a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug at Paddington around the same time.

Investigations began after the Australian Border Force intercepted a package from the US, which contained cocaine.

Police searching the Bondi Beach storage shed during the multimillion dollar bust. Picture: NSW Police

When Magistrate Robert Williams threw out McFarland’s bail application after he was arrested in the multimillion-dollar drug bust in March, 2020, he said his “serious” charges could see him locked up for life.

At the District Court on Friday, McFarland’s defence lawyer, Simon Buchen, said his client would have been ready to proceed with the scheduled sentencing but “there’s been an outbreak at the Long Bay prison”.

He said: “There’s a lockdown in jail so the inmates won’t be able to appear in any cases and that proceeds an insurmountable problem.”

Buchen asked Judge Jon Williams if he would consider assessing some of the written submissions already collated and then return to complete the matter on a later date to prevent work “starting from scratch”.

But the court heard that would not be feasible because some documents still needed to be signed.

Judge Williams said that on the next occasion, he will be able to give a judgment “fairly quickly”.

The lawyer claimed there’s a ‘lock down’ inside the Long Bay Correctional Complex. Picture: John Appleyard

“It’s obvious he’ll be spending some significant time in custody despite having no prior criminal record,” he said.

The case was listed for sentencing on February 25, 2022.

A spokeswoman for Corrective Services NSW did not directly respond to News Corp’s question about the size of the outbreak at Long Bay Correctional Complex and what “lock down” measures are in place.

She said: “The safety of staff and inmates is top priority for Corrective Service NSW (CSNSW) and all actions related to Covid are guided by the expert advice of NSW Health and the Justice Health and Mental Health Network.

“On Friday, Long Bay Correctional Complex was rostering staff and utilising operational routines to ensure essential services were being maintained, alongside of safety and security.

Staff are working tirelessly to facilitate access to legal services as a priority.”