Frankston Magistrates’ Court: Alan Alexander dropped package of ketamine under Mornington tree
An apprentice chippy decided to boost his income by dealing ketamine on the peninsula before he was brought undone by an eagle-eyed member of the community.
South East
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An apprentice chippy and “entrepreneurial” young man has been spared jail because of his age after he was busted trafficking ketamine.
Alan Alexander, 19, appeared in the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking ketamine and a charge of possessing ecstasy.
The teen, who was 18 at the time of offending, had begun to “dabble” in ketamine use with his friends before realising he could make a quick buck from dealing instead.
The court heard police were called in September 2021 after a member of the public saw Alexander drop a package under a tree in Mornington before driving away.
When they examined the package it was found to contain 29g of ketamine.
When police searched Alexander’s home in Mornington where he was living with his mum and dad they found multiple phones, ecstasy tablets, ketamine, drug paraphernalia, and almost $5000 in cash.
The court heard he told police he used the money for “recreation” so he could save all the money he made at work as an apprentice carpenter.
Magistrate Gerard Bryant said it seemed like Alexander was drawn in by the “lure of easy money”.
He said for someone with no priors this was a “dramatic introduction to the criminal justice system”.
Mr Bryant said if Alexander had been a man aged in his 30s he could be “pretty confident” he would be exiting the court through the dock and not the front door.
“In some parts of the world drug traffickers are executed,” he said.
“Drugs are responsible for the destruction of people’s lives.”
He also said it was clear Alexander was an “entrepreneurial” young man.
Alexander was placed on a community corrections order as part of which he will have to give 120 hours of community work over 12 months.
He managed to avoid a conviction.
