Keiran Daniels tells of personal shame after caught dealing MDMA

A southern Sydney dad has told of his personal shame and the hurt he has caused his family after he was busted selling MDMA in the Shellharbour area to fund his cocaine addiction.

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A south Sydney man has told a court he’s been a “bad role model” for his family, after he was busted selling MDMA in a McDonald’s car park to fuel his cocaine addiction.

Keiran Daniels, 28, faced the NSW District Court in Wollongong on Thursday, after he was caught selling 139.9 grams of MDMA at Albion Park McDonald’s by investigators from Strike Force Tulare.

The strike force was established to stop the supply of party drugs in the Shellharbour region in 2019, and was responsible for the arrest of four men, including Daniels.

Daniels, a father of one from Kirrawee, will be released from prison just days before Christmas this year, after Judge Andrew Haesler sentenced him to two years jail with a non-parole period of one year and two months.

“When he committed this offence, he had effectively reached rock bottom and everything he has done since that point is to pick himself up,” Judge Haesler said.

On Thursday, the court heard Daniels was arrested on October 17, 2019, after another man asked for his assistance in supplying five ounces of MDMA.

Daniels appeared at Wollongong Court on October 1. Picture: Steven Bell

The court heard the man was to meet the buyer, who was in fact a police witness, in the McDonald’s car park that night, where the drugs would be exchanged for $9000 cash.

Daniels agreed to help, arranging to supply him the MDMA for $6000, the court heard.

The court heard at 6pm the man arrived in the carpark and hopped into the police witness’s car to wait for Daniels.

Daniels arrived some 30 minutes later, and got into the car, supplying the police witnesses with 139.9g of MDMA in exchange for the cash.

Daniels and two other men were arrested in the carpark and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station, where Daniels revealed he agreed to supply the drugs because he needed money to fund his cocaine addiction.

Daniels told the court he started using the drug to cope with work stress, but that his addiction escalated, and his wife kicked him out of the house.

“My wife found cocaine in my pockets and told me she didn’t want drugs around and I was forced into moving in with my friend in Wollongong,” he wrote in a letter to the court.

“The separation from my wife hurt me and I started abusing cocaine most days to de-stress … I then went into a downward spiral however I couldn’t afford cocaine so I started to tick the drugs.”

The court heard Daniels had an exemplary record from the past 11 months at Parklea Jail, and was working as a painter, which he found “therapeutic”.

Born in the UK, Daniels also told the court he feared he’d be deported following his release from jail, and the impact that would have on his young family.

“I’ve been a bad role model for my family and now he has had to grow up with his dad in jail,” he said.

“Serving time in jail surrounded by criminals and drug users has opened my eyes and can see the impact that the nature of my offence has caused on the community and it disgusts me that I got myself involved in it.”

With time already served, Daniels will be eligible for release to parole on December 16.