Braeside meth bust: Plumber Yan Vyater jailed for trafficking drugs out of warehouse

An Aspendale plumber who tried to earn a bit of extra cash making and selling meth will have a fair time to reflect on his crimes after a judge jailed him for at least four years.

An Aspendale plumber who ran a clandestine meth lab out of a Braeside warehouse unit will serve at least four years behind bars.

Yan Vyater was last month found guilty in the Victorian County Court of trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs, and possessing materials, substances, and equipment to make a commercial quantity of meth.

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Police found the materials when they raided Vyater’s leased Industrial Drive warehouse on August 15, 2016.

The prosecution was able to prove Vyater had intended to manufacture more than 500g of meth from the materials found.

Vyater’s defence counsel failed to have key evidence which linked his client to the Industrial Drive site ruled as inadmissable.

The disputed evidence included DNA found inside a red chemical glove found inside the unit.

Forensic expert Janelle Heffernan opined it was 26 times more likely Vyater was a contributor to the DNA profile than if it originated from a randomly selected person from the Australian caucasian population.

Clandestine drug labs like this one can be dangerous, according to police.

However, Ms Heffernan did accept the DNA profile was low-level, with a verbal equivalent of providing “moderate support”.

The defence tried to argue the DNA evidence should be excluded because of the prejudicial effect of the low likelihood ratio and the “CSI effect”.

They also tried to have a recorded interview of Vyater telling police he lived at the Industrial Drive location ruled out, and and argued that an acetone bottle found in the unit storage locker didn’t contain enough pure meth to produce a commercial quantity.

However Judge Damian Murphy said the apparent low purity didn’t rule out intention.

Vyater intended to produce more than 500g of meth.

“(It wouldn’t be unreasonable for the jury to find) the intention ‘on or about August 15 2016’ was to make as much methylamphetamine as possible, being more than 500g in a mixed amount, and the fact that the ‘cook’ was a failure does not mean that the intention was not held.”

Vyater was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in jail but will be eligible for parole after 4 years.

At hte time of sentencing, he had already spent 53 days in custody.

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