Brendan Hollett: Brushgrove man sentenced after meth-fuelled episode at Halfway Creek service station

A Clarence construction worker on a late night drive with a friend became paranoid their trip to the service station was an elaborate set up to have him shot. Here’s what happened.

Grafton Courthouse Photo Adam Hourigan / The Daily Examiner

A young Clarence construction worker on a late night drive with a friend became paranoid their trip to the service station was an elaborate set up to have him shot, a court heard.

Brendan Hollett’s panic led to a Coles service station being thrust into lockdown.

The 21-year-old was not in danger – just caught in the grips of meth-fuelled paranoia.

Brushgrove man Hollett, 21, faced Grafton Local Court on Monday, pleading guilty to possessing a prohibited drug and having a knife in a public place.

He had been smoking methamphetamines at different locations in South Grafton on June 11 and June 12, according to court documents.

Just before midnight on June 12, one of Hollett’s friends arrived at a Grafton house and “asked him if he wanted to go for a drive”.

Hollett agreed and the pair drove to a Coles Express service station off the Pacific Highway at Halfway Creek.

Brendan Hollett outside Grafton Local Court.

Hollett bought food and drink and noticed his friend drive to the rear of the service station.

The friend phoned Hollett and told him to meet him around the back.

Hollett started to believe “the drive was a set up in order to have him shot”, the court heard.

He phoned the mother of his friend and told her “he was being held hostage” and was convinced the other man “had a firearm”.

The woman phoned triple-0 for help, police facts state.

Police rushed to the scene from Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga and Dorrigo.

Officers instructed a person in the service station to lock the doors and secure the building.

Brendan Hollett outside the court.

Police found Hollett at the service station about 1am and he told them his friend had not made any threats and he had not seen a gun.

Police observed Hollett appeared under the influence of drugs and he admitted he had taken meth.

The officers searched Hollett and found 0.97 grams of meth and a Swiss Army knife.

Defence lawyer Frankie Sullivan told the court Hollett had been in a relationship with a woman who was addicted to meth and he became hooked as well.

But she said Hollett had stopped using drugs and was in a new relationship.

Magistrate Juliana Crofts said Hollett was already on a community corrections order and a conditional release order during his episode, albeit for different types of offending.

Ms Crofts said the police account made for “concerning reading” because Hollett‘s intoxication caused him to “behave in a very erratic manner”.

Hollett was sentenced to a nine-month conditional release order.

Originally published as Brendan Hollett: Brushgrove man sentenced after meth-fuelled episode at Halfway Creek service station