Josiah Burton Flanagan: jail for Redfern drug supplier

A man was supposed to managing his mum’s Sydney rental properties after she went to retire in Mudgee. However, he instead offered them up to house major drug labs.

A man who was supposed to be managing his mother’s rental properties but instead allowed them to be used to warehouse drugs was discovered after someone left the oven on causing it to billow out smoke.

Josiah James Burton, 34, was sentenced to five years and six months jail with a non-parole period of two years nine months in the Sydney District Court this week.

Burton, who is sometimes known by the last name Flanagan, pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly take part in the supply of a large commercial drug relating to the 25,045.98g of ephedrine, 1587.19g of methylamphetamine and 319.2g GBL officers found across two apartments in the complex on Phillip St in Redfern.

A court heard two units in the same building belonged to his mother Lynette Flanagan who had left them in his hands after going home to retire in Mudgee.

Judge Dina Yehia heard on June 21, 2018 NSW Fire and Rescue were called to one of the apartments at 6.45pm and removed two smoking trays from an oven.

“Once the smoke cleared NFR re-entered the unit and observed a bowl of crystallised substance in a pigeon Hole and a tray of crystallised substance in the fridge,” the police facts read.

“NFR determined this suspicious, exited the unit and set up an exclusion zone.”

A friend and neighbour of Burton’s, Lilo Blyton, told police she mistakenly thought fire fighters were in the unit next door.

“Hey Jos there’s something going on next door to your mum’s,” she said to Burton according to the police facts.

“The offender did not respond but Blyton observed him to look surprised and startled based on his facial expression.

“Blyton asked the offender whether she should call Flanagan but the offender did not respond and stepped over the tape and walked quickly towards (the unit).”

Burton’s lawyer Michael Ayache told the court his client was paid an ounce of crystal meth for allowing the drugs to be kept at the premises.

The mugshot of Josiah Burton publicly released by police in 2018 when there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Burton’s fingerprints were found on containers in the kitchens of the two units and he was originally charged with manufacturing the drugs.

However those charges were dropped and Burton gave evidence at his own sentencing that he and his girlfriend at the time Natalie Crowe and her mum Debra had all lived in the units at various times and so the fingerprints could have been historical.

Crowe and her mother are not accused of any wrongdoing.

In handing down her sentence, Judge Yehia took into consideration Burton’s troubled childhood.

The court heard he was raised in an alternative lifestyle commune in Mudgee where drug use was normalised and he began smoking cannabis at age nine.

He had an “emotionally distant father” and the pair bonded when he was aged 12 by discussing the “good effects of cannabis and funny effects tripping on LSD”.

A warrant was issued for Burton’s arrest in the wake of the discovery of the drugs and he wasn’t taken into custody until almost two years later on March 25, 2020.

He has been on remand ever since and is currently in Long Bay prison.

Burton will be eligible for parole on Christmas Eve 2022.