Mitchell Bradley Keong sentenced for supplying drugs in Southport Magistrates Court

This Queensland dad of four and qualified mechanic pleaded guilty to multiple charges of supplying drugs, as the court heard the details of why he started dealing.

Mitchell Bradley Keong leaving Southport courthouse on December 18, 2024. Photo: Jacklyn O'Brien.

Dealing drugs wasn’t an easy choice for a Queensland tradie dad, a Gold Coast court has heard.

When he appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court facing seven charges of supplying drugs, his defence lawyer, Demi Quadrio narrated a series of events which led to the 30-year-old slipping into a life of crime.

Mitchell Bradley Keong, a Woodford father of four had worked most of his adult life as a mechanic in the hinterland region north of Brisbane.

But when the needs of one of his children demanded he be home, he dropped the tools and took to caring for her full-time, Ms Quadrio said.
Keong was the sole breadwinner at the time, so when he stopped working and the carer’s pension took longer than he thought to land in his bank account, he did what he could to make a quick buck, the court heard.

Even when Keong’s relationship with his partner broke down and he could no longer see the children, he was still largely responsible for financially supporting them.

Keong pleaded guilty to seven charges of supplying dangerous drugs across multiple dates in 2023, and one charge of possessing anything used in the commission of a crime.

He has eight further drug-related charges to which he has not yet entered a plea.

A year on, Ms Quadrio said Keong had taken up legitimate employment again, working as a refrigeration mechanic.

Magistrate Dominic Brunello said the offending was aggravated by Keong’s “spruiking” and “marketing” of the cannabis, and that he was sending unsolicited messages to people advertising the product.

Magistrate Brunello said Keong’s criminal history was “limited and largely irrelevant,” and in light of that the man was sentenced to 18 months of probation, with a conviction recorded.