Matthew Doyle ‘seduced’ by sting to import 50kg cocaine, court told
Party boy Matthew Doyle once boasted “I like money” and was driven by greed when he tried to import hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine into the country, a court has been told.
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Party boy Matthew Doyle once boasted “I like money” and was driven by greed when he tried to import hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine into the country, a court has been told.
The high society drug dealer appeared in Downing Centre District Court for a hearing on Friday, with the support of his wife Kelsea in the public gallery, after pleading guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
The court was told Doyle, 32, was “targeted and seduced” in a sting set up by police when he conspired to import 50kg of cocaine and handed over $500,000 in cash before his arrest last September.
Defence barrister Philip Boulton QC told Judge Penelope Hock that Doyle — who hasn’t seen his family for months due to COVID restrictions in prison — was “very, very aware of how wrong his life has been”.
“He knows that he has caused a lot of harm, he is doing what he can to make amends for his past and I would ask your honour to accept that his arrest has led to a readjustment of thinking,” he said.
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“So long as he stays away from illicit drugs and those involved in the trade he is entirely unlikely to be involved in any criminal offences of any type again.
“I’d ask your honour to find that he has good prospects of rehabilitation … he has the support of his wife and his family, who are prosocial and very, very concerned.
“They’re here, they have been with him, they maintain strong connections to him — that’s boding well for the future.”
Mr Boulton told the court Doyle would not have become involved in the plot had he not been approached during the sting and that the cocaine never existed.
“This is not a standard police entrapment case … there was never any drugs, he was never going to effect an importation, he was never going to obtain possession of drugs,” he said.
Crown prosecutor Emma Blizard accepted the drug plot was “an attempt which was never coming to fruition because the cocaine itself never existed” but said Doyle was motivated by “greed”.
“He saw an opportunity that presented itself and his greed took over — that is why he became involved in this offending behaviour,” she said.
“Mr Doyle’s own words were ‘I’m not against it … I like money, I love making people money.
“(His) actions over a number of months (show he attempted) to move this enterprise forward, including handing over half a million dollars in cash.
“Doyle was acting to achieve a very significant financial reward.”
Doyle’s co-accused Jared “Jazza” Hart, 31, of Bronte, and Raoul Kesby, 29, of Rose Bay, have both pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, and also appeared in the same court.
The trio will return to court to be sentenced in September.
