House fires, sex romps and drug labs: The dealers and users caught up in Geelong’s drug scene
The extreme actions of Geelong drug dealers and their customers have been detailed, from sex romps to hiding narcotics in their undies.
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From the drug-fuelled sex parties of buyers through to the wild attempts to stash the illegal substances by the dealers, Geelong has had no shortage of residents caught red-handed by police.
While most will avoid a lengthy prison term, the worst offenders are being doled out prison terms by magistrates and judges who are fed up with the escalating drug issues across the community.
Here we take a look back at some of 2022’s dealers and buyers who were caught up in the criminal justice system.
JACOB WILSON-CHURCH
Theft, weapons and a drug-fuelled sex party caught up with a 21-year-old Geelong man.
Jacob Wilson-Church appeared at the Geelong Magistrates Court in June and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving offences, theft of a motor vehicle and a suite of drug charges.
In October 2021, police were called to a St Kilda hotel where Wilson-Church and two others were having a “sex party with methamphetamine” and were spotted on the balcony naked.
While there, police executed a search and found a liquid substance they believed to be GHB and a machete tucked behind the bed.
Wilson-Church’s defence lawyer told the court that the charges are “indicative of a young man who fell into a lifestyle of drugs”.
SEAN PHIPPS AND RAYMOND NUNN
Two Geelong men were jailed for burning down a drug dealer’s house after they thought they were “ripped off”.
Norlane man Sean Phipps, 32, and Raymond Nunn, 25, of no listed address, were sentenced in the County Court in late July 2022 after they each entered a plea of guilty to one count of arson.
In May 2020, Nunn went to a Geelong commission house and gave a man who lived there $300 for drugs.
The drug dealer left the house to buy the drugs and told Nunn he would be back.
Nunn set a mattress on fire in the bedroom and two more were started in a bin and in the bath. It is unclear who set those two fires.
Nunn then carved “you owe me” in the lounge room wall.
Judge Felicity Hampel said it was a “wilful act of destruction” and was a “terrible thing to do”, that cost the department of housing, the community in need of the public housing and taxpayers.
JOHN NASH
A Corio man found with drug manufacturing equipment and a recipe for GHB avoided a further prison term after claiming it was to help him sleep.
John Nash, 28, pleaded guilty at the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday and the court heard Nash was under the impression police were watching him and unfairly targeting him prior to July 2021 raids.
Defence lawyer Hollie Lyons said her client distrust for authority stemmed from his family home being raided at six years old, causing lifelong mental health issues.
“Nash feels persecuted by the police,” she said.
Ms Lyons argued GHB was not found on the premises and chemicals such as Gamma were used for sleep aid.
JAMES BOWKER
A 29-year-old Corio man’s drug trafficking came to a sudden halt when police located cocaine and cash stashed in coat pockets.
James Bowker fronted the Geelong Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to possessing a drug of dependence and a weapons charge, with police seizing 55 grams of cocaine and $12,300.
In June 2021, drug task force investigators intercepted Bowker’s vehicle in Corio and executed a search warrant.
In addition to two mobile phones, police found zip lock bags containing a white powdery substance, a plastic cup with a metal spoon containing residue of the powder, digital scales with cocaine residue and knuckle dusters.
Bowker’s defence lawyer told the court his work and home life have been “very, very good” for the fourth-year electrician apprentice but an experiment with cocaine a few years ago got out of control.
VINCENT FICARRA
A Geelong West grandfather was told he could be jailed for trafficking cannabis.
Vincent Ficarra, 59, appeared at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court in July and pleaded guilty to trafficking a drug of dependence.
The court heard police suspected Ficarra was trafficking drugs in 2020 and started watching his Geelong West home.
Officers reported seeing people visiting the house on 66 occasions.
A few months later, in November 2020, police raided the home and found three grams of cannabis, deal bags, digital scales and $2437 in cash on a coffee table and inside his wallet.
Ficarra was arrested and taken to the police station where he told police he had purchased the cannabis, not sold it, and claimed the money was from government payments.
Magistrate Franz Holzer contested that Ficarra was only a buyer.
WADE REES
A Lara man found slumped over the wheel of his car was found with a firearm, machete and drugs of dependence.
Wade Rees, 28, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court to possessing the two weapons and the drugs of dependence, as well as theft and attempt to obtain property by deception.
In May 2022, a witness observed as a Mazda station wagon failed to move after the traffic lights had turned green and drove alongside the car to find Rees slumped over the wheel.
Officers located a black holster attached to his belt and opened it to find a small, silver pistol. The firearm, which was removed by officers immediately at the scene, was loaded with a live round.
Methamphetamine and cannabis was also located in the car.
Defence lawyer Mel Walker told the court Rees has a “long history of problematic drug use from a very early age”, including cannabis from 14 and methamphetamine use from 16.
ASHLEY FOORD
A Norlane drug trafficker who threw evidence over his neighbour’s fence in the moments before police showed up was sentenced.
Ashley Foord, 34, entered a plea of guilty on charges of trafficking in a drug of dependence, possessing a drug of dependence, knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Foord was arrested in July 2021 after a police raid of his property uncovered 8.3g of methylamphetamine, 1-4 Butediaonol, a baton and $9870. Police estimated the methylamphetamine was worth $8000.
An examination of his neighbour’s property located 42 grams of methylamphetamine contained in three separate reusable bags.
MARK LEWIN
A hospital trip exposed a Norlane man’s drug habits when police were alerted to a crystal substance that was hidden in his underwear.
Mark Anthony Lewin, 46, appeared at the Geelong Magistrates Court and entered a plea of guilty to possessing a drug of dependence.
In January 2021, a nurse was attending to Lewin, who had been admitted for mental health reasons, when she found a large ziplock bag in his underwear that contained methylamphetamine.
Police executed a search of his Norlane property in the presence of Lewin and uncovered a syringe filled to the 40ml mark with heroin.
Continuing the search, police located another ziplock bag containing a crystal-like substance they believed to be methamphetamine.
RICKY WILSON
A budding artist, who says he hated his offending, appeared before the Geelong Magistrates Court for breaching bail.
Whittington man Ricky Wilson, 27, fronted court and pleaded guilty to multiple counts of indictable offences, possessing and using stolen credit cards, theft from a car and possessing methamphetamine.
He was also charged with being in possession of a weapon, namely a 15cm knife, and obtaining stolen goods and cash from victims.
Magistrate Simon Guthrie said he would be “very uncomfortable” sentencing Wilson without an element of supervision.
“Rehabilitation should be and is the appropriate situation,” he said.
“For goodness sake, you seem to be a talented artist with some cultural awareness, it might be well that’s where you should be engaging.”
KYLE BLOOM
A serial offender, who hid drugs under his pillow, was busted with an air rifle and a shotgun cartridge when police raided his home.
Kyle Bloom appeared in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court via video link and pleaded guilty to possessing a traffickable quantity of drugs of dependence, a firearm and ammunition.
Police raided the 24-year-old man’s home in April 2022 and found four clear bags containing cannabis that weighed a total of 120 grams and 10 Xanax and Diazepam pills stashed under his pillow.
As well as the drugs, police seized a shotgun cartridge and an air rifle that was hidden in the back of his wardrobe.
Magistrate Nunzio La Rosa warned Bloom he was in a “revolving door in and out of prison” and, at 24, “this is not the position he should be finding himself in”.
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