Jamie Leighton: Sale man sentenced over drug trafficking

A drug dealer from Sale had the “mistaken belief” he wouldn’t be searched if he hid drugs in his underwear. He was wrong.

A drug dealer who thought it was a good idea to stash drugs in his underwear has been jailed for two years.

Jamie Leighton, 37, was sentenced in Country Court over charges involving drug trafficking and possession on Thursday.

The Sale man was arrested on September 11, 2020 after police searched a vehicle because they thought the car was carrying drugs.

The court heard Leighton was found with wads of cash in his pockets, a total sum of $8152 which he said was “to buy a second-hand car”.

Two phones were also found and a small case, hidden in his underwear, which contained small plastic bags with a white substance inside.

In a police interview, Leighton said he was holding the drugs for the driver of the vehicle in the “mistaken belief” he wasn’t going to be searched.

He was carrying about 110 grams of methamphetamine with about 86 per cent purity, almost double the commercial purity threshold.

Police discovered messages on the phones that indicated he was selling drugs since August 2020.

Judge Fran Dalziel said Leighton’s prospects of rehabilitation were “guarded” and said he had a “high-risk” of reoffending.

“Imposing a community corrections order would be setting you up to fail and to be resentenced by me at a later date,” she said.

Leighton was jailed for three charges and received a non-parole period of 18 months.

He had already served 461 days at the time of sentencing.