Cessnock man Joshua Walker Smith jailed after pleading guilty to ice supply

A Hunter man has been sentenced for drug supply after three months’ worth of deals were picked up by police phone taps.

A Cessnock man began selling ice to support a drug habit that worsened after the death of a friend, a court has heard.

Joshua Walker Smith, 35, was sentenced in Newcastle District Court on Wednesday to a minimum 15 months’ jail, having pleaded guilty to supply.

Joshua Smith pleaded guilty to drug supply. Picture: Facebook

The court heard Smith rarely used drugs until 2018, when his long-term relationship broke down and he lost his job.

“The death of his friend has increased his use of methylamphetamine,” Judge Christopher O’Brien said.

“Not unusually, he became involved in the supply of that drug to support what had become his own addiction.”

Smith’s drug dealing came to the attention of police when they tapped his phone as part of an unrelated investigation.

The court heard he sold 35.05 grams of ice — an indictable quantity — over 31 transactions between January 15, 2019 and April 28, 2019.

The deals were carried out via phone calls and texts, which Judge O’Brien described as “unsophisticated and rudimentary”.

Defence barrister Peter Krisenthal said Smith’s offending was heavily influenced by his upbringing.

“His way of dealing with those issues was the way that was modelled to him by his parents and step-parents,” Mr Krisenthal said.

“That way of reacting was ingrained by his parents’ substance abuse and violence.”

Smith was sentenced to two years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 15 months. With time served, he will be eligible for parole in March next year.