Jason Napier in Wonthaggi Magistrates’ Court for driving while disqualified and possessing methamphetamine

A Wonthaggi dad who was busted with meth that he found stored inside a torch on the street, told police it was a lucky find and the temptation was “right there”.

Jason Napier, 40, appeared at the Wonthaggi Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

A Wonthaggi dad and former floor company worker told police it was a “bonus” finding meth inside a torch that he found near a supermarket.

Jason Napier, 40, appeared at the Wonthaggi Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and possessing methamphetamine.

On May 27 last year, Napier was pulled over by police on Wentworth Rd, who discovered his licence was disqualified.

Then in September, Napier was arrested over an outstanding warrant, regarding an alleged unrelated theft in Cowes and taken to the Wonthaggi police station, the court heard.

At the station officers found a small torch on Napier which — when unscrewed — had a small bag of methamphetamine inside.

In an interview, Napier was asked where he got the drug to which he replied, “I found it near Woolies, unscrewed the torch and saw it was ice in there”.

“I looked at the gear and was like, ‘bonus’”, Napier told police at the time.

“The temptation was right there — it’s a bit hard to say no really.”

Napier told police he found the bag of methamphetamine inside a small torch he found near a Woolworths, implying it was a “bonus” and was “hard to say no”.

Defence lawyer Meaghan Crouch told the court her client’s drug and alcohol counsellor said he had attended 22 appointments for drug and alcohol counselling.

“Mr Napier hasn’t given up — he is still working hard to try and abstain,” Ms Crouch said.

“He started using drugs when he was 13, his childhood was hard and he started to rebel.”

Magistrate Mia Stylianou said Napier’s criminal history was “dreadful” and had a “whole cocktail” of offending for prior convictions.

“You’ve got a real mixture of offending and you’ve also got your driving history, it’s shocking,” Ms Stylianou said.

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“You’ve got so many priors of driving while disqualified although they tend to be clustered earlier in your (life) rather than so much now.”

Ms Stylianou asked Napier what his ambitions were — to which he said he would try to get back into the workforce and find a new career path.

Ms Stylianou said in order for him to do that he would need to “get off the gear” first.

“It’s a terrible treadmill to be on and you’ve been on it for a while — I’m pleased to see you’re getting some support,” she said.

“I can tell you that if you were to get another drive while disqualified conviction there would be many, many magistrates that would lock you up.

“And I would probably be one of them — you’ve just had too many priors on the road — your history is shocking.”

Ms Stylianou convicted Napier and ordered him to complete 100 hours of community work where he would report to the Wonthaggi Justice Service Centre.

“Just try and get it right this time,” she said.