Brian Ronaldson leaves huge drug supply after crashing on Main St, Thomastown
A man who slammed his ute into a Thomastown power pole left an expensive haul of drugs and cash behind as he fled the power line-covered scene. But in his rush he left a phone and documents with his name on them.
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A driver who took out a power pole, causing power lines to cover the road, left a huge supply of drugs and cash behind when he fled the scene.
Brian Ronaldson also left documents in his name, his phone and fingerprints in the ute after running from the crash on Main St, Thomastown.
Ronaldson, who fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Friday, August 14 over the incident, was already in jail for a number of crimes, including intentionally causing injury and possessing a weapon.
The court heard police found a total of 62.6 grams of methamphetamine — more than 20 times the trafficable amount — and 9.9 grams of ecstasy when they searched the scene of the crash on April 30.
An unlicensed Ronaldson had been behind the wheel of a Nissan ute about midnight when he drove into the power pole, causing it to snap and power lines to fall onto the road.
Emergency services, including the MFB, arrived to find he had already fled the scene.
Inside the ute police found the methamphetamine in multiple bags, bearing labels such as ‘quarter’ and ‘half’, a set of scales with powder on it, 34 ecstasy tablets, oxycontin tablets and 12 $50 notes spread around.
They also discovered Ronaldson’s Centrelink forms, a phone registered to his known number and his fingerprints.
Days after the crash a man told police his ute had been involved. He said he had been working with a man called Brian who took the ute and never returned it.
Ronaldson was arrested on July 17, 2019 after he was injured in a crash in Sedgwick.
The court heard Ronaldson had been handed two jail sentences since the arrest, with neither including the charges for the Thomastown incident.
Lawyer Yvonne Kushner said he was serving a two-year sentence for a number of charges, with the most serious being when he intentionally caused injury to another person in custody in 2018.
She said Ronaldson had missed out on the benefit of all his crimes being dealt with at once.
Ms Kushner told the court Ronaldson suffered a traumatic childhood, causing him to turn to cannabis aged nine.
She said the 32-year-old suffered from ADHD, depression, anxiety, low IQ and a personality and bipolar disorder.
Ms Kushner said Ronaldson’s health meant jail was particularly onerous for him, especially with the COVID-19 restrictions, on top of the stress that his stepfather was in an Epping aged care home infected with the virus.
Magistrate Stephen Ballek noted Ronaldson had multiple relevant prior convictions for drug trafficking and reckless driving among his significant criminal record.
Ronaldson sought a sentence indication for charges of trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking ecstasy, possessing oxycontin, possessing proceeds of crimes, careless driving, unlicensed driving and failing to report an accident.
He pleaded guilty to all after Mr Ballek indicated he would give him six months in jail, with three months to be served concurrently with Ronaldson’s existing sentence.
Mr Ballek said he had taken into consideration that Ronaldson didn’t get the benefit of having all his crimes heard at once, the effects of COVID-19 on custody, and Ronaldson’s vulnerability in jail.
He said he would have ordered nine months in jail but for the guilty plea.
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