La Fayette drug bust: Sebastian Barnard learns fate over ice shipment

A Sydney judge has sentenced a British man who picked up a tonne of ice on a yacht in the Pacific Ocean before sailing towards Australia

A British man who picked up a tonne of ice on a yacht in the Pacific Ocean before sailing towards Australia has been jailed for more than 16 years over the massive attempted drug importation.

NSW District Court Judge Garry Neilson said on Thursday that Sebastian Barnard took the risk with “his eyes wide open” when he headed to a location near Norfolk Island last year and transferred the 991kg of meth from a Mexican mothership to his vessel, the La Fayette.

New Caledonian authorities had information about the plot and tipped off NSW Police, who intercepted the La Fayette before it reached its intended destination of Broken Bay with its illegal cargo that was worth almost half a billion dollars.

Police remove a large amount of methamphetamine from the yacht. Picture: AAP

The yacht - coked at Balmain - was carrying a suspected hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine. Picture: AAP

The court had been told Barnard, 35, a professional yachtie who is also a South African citizen, had fallen into a big gambling debt while living in Dubai to someone known only as “the principal”, who had orchestrated the massive importation.

The principal told Barnard his debt would be cleared if he sailed the La Fayette to a location to pick up cargo before sailing it back “just above Sydney”.

Judge Neilson sentenced Barnard to 16 years and six months jail with a non-parole period of 11 years over attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

With time already served, he will be 45 when he’s first eligible for parole in 2040.

Mark Bishell, a New Zealander who had been employed as a deckhand on the La Fayette, was jailed for seven years and six months jail with a non-parole period of four and a half years over the same charge.

Mark Bishell, 33, from New Zealand.

Mark Bishell, 33, was working on the yeacht as a deckhand.

The court had been told Bishell had been living in a halfway house in Wellington and had been recruited into the operation as a deckhand but that he also must have known the endeavour had an illegal purpose.

Judge Neilson said he was required to give the two men a harsh punishment to send a message to anyone thinking about importing drugs into Australia but that it was important any sentence he gave should not be “crushing” to them.

“A head sentence of say 30 years would mean (Barnard) would not be free from the custodial system until he‘s well into his mid-50s and probably deny him the prospect of marrying and having a family before he becomes too old,” the judge said.

“The court should not impose a sentence which is designed to crush the offenders, to take away any motivation to continue to improve whilst in custody and give them hope that when they are released from custody they can return to a normal life and seek a life partner and commence a family.“

Police remove a large amount of methamphetamine from the yacht docked at Balmain. Picture: AAP

The two men arrested on the vessell.

Police stopped the yacht 50 nautical miles east of Lake Macquarie.

Barnard had earlier told the court he only expected to pick up a suitcase of drugs at sea but that he was “flabbergasted” when he saw the actual amount on the mothership.

Judge Neilson said it had not been an easy sentencing exercise for him over the past week and that he felt some sympathy for each of the men.

“They each were exploited when vulnerable, they took a gamble and the gamble was lost,” he said.

“Mr Barnard and Mr Bishell, I do wish you both well - I really do.”