Rosanna ecstasy dealer Rhys Henderson jailed for trafficking MDMA, shooting Dallas sex client

A former landscaper turned ecstasy dealer shot his girlfriend’s Dallas sex client after the punter claimed $850 was too expensive.

A tooled-up ecstasy dealer who shot a man that refused to pay his prostitute girlfriend because the service was too expensive has been jailed.

Rhys Henderson, 30, was sentenced in the County Court to a minimum of three years and six months’ jail after pleading guilty to charges including trafficking MDMA and using a firearm.

Henderson violated Melbourne’s lockdown laws to drive his girlfriend to a sex work appointment at a man’s Dallas home on September 28 last year.

The woman went inside the unit where she argued with the punter about her price.

The man refused to cough up $850 for services despite having $900 cash on him, the court heard.

The punter told the woman he wanted to cancel his appointment but she refused to leave without being paid.

She then went on her phone.

Henderson drove the Porsche the couple had arrived in down the man’s driveway and walked up to the front door carrying a black pistol.

Henderson attempted to open the door, but the victim stopped him, leading to a struggle during which Henderson screamed and swore for about 10 minutes.

Henderson fired a shot through the door’s glass panelling which hit the man in the upper thigh.

The woman then demanded the injured man hand over his money, and he gave her his $900, before the couple sped from the scene.

Henderson was on bail at the time after police raided his Rosanna home and seized 581 grams of MDMA in more than 200 ecstasy pills found beneath the stairs on January 11, 2019.

The court heard the former concreter and landscaper had previously been convicted of stalking.

Henderson, who commenced alcohol and substance abuse as a young teenager, was a long term problem gambler who suffered from personality disorder, the court was told.

Henderson told authorities he was on drugs when he shot his victim.

Judge Rosemary Carlin said Henderson’s conduct by carrying around a loaded gun was “nothing short of outrageous” as he played “some sort of bodyguard role” for his girlfriend.

Judge Carlin noted Henderson had no reason to think his girlfriend was in danger when he fired the gun.

Henderson, who had spent 234 days on remand, was jailed for a maximum of five years.

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