How simple car defect landed man in jail

A dodgy number plate light which caught the attention of Tweed-Byron police ended with a Brisbane man in jail

Daniel James Randall, 48, was sentenced in Tweed Heads Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to four charges including supplying a prohibited drug and dealing with proceeds of crime. Photo: Supplied.

A DODGY number plate light which caught the attention of police has landed a Brisbane man in jail after a search of his car revealed $20,000 worth of the drug ice and more than $16,000 in cash.

Daniel James Randall, 48, was sentenced in Tweed Heads Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to four charges including supplying a prohibited drug and dealing with proceeds of crime.

Randall was driving north on the Pacific Motorway at Ewingsdale, near Byron Bay, about 11pm on September 1, 2019, when he was pulled over by police for a defective number plate light.

The court was told Randall and his female passenger appeared nervous which prompted officers to search their car.

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Police found $10,590 in cash inside a Guess handbag that was stashed in the footwell of the Holden Commodore.

Another bag was also found, which contained 116.8g of the drug ice, 0.149g of heroin and a further $6380 in cash.

He told officers he bought the drugs from Grafton and was on his way back to Brisbane where he would supply the drugs to three of his friends.

Randall told the officers he had pooled his money with mates to buy the drugs.

He admitted he paid $5000 for an ounce of the drug ice for his own use and intended to buy a couple of pounds of marijuana, but didn't.

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Defence lawyer Kate Brady told the court her client was unable to buy the marijuana and planned to return the cash to his friends and wasn't going to make money from the deal.

Ms Brady said Randall had an entrenched drug habit at the time of the offence and was "basically just transporting the drugs" as a type of agent.

The Director of Public Prosecutions rejected the claim Randall was simply a courier.

In a written submission to the court, the prosecutor argued the extent of knowledge and planning of the deal made him more culpable than that of a courier.

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Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy said Randall's criminal history showed nothing as serious as the current charges but revealed a long-term association with the drug community.

"You do have some prospects for rehabilitation. You have a home to return to and have managed to secure employment when released," Mr Dunlevy said.

"However, you lack insight into the nature of your wrongdoing which I hope will be addressed by a period of parole."

Randall was convicted and sentenced to 20 months in jail with a non-parole period of 10 months.

He was eligible for release immediately.

Originally published as How simple car defect landed man in jail