Matthew Joseph: Repeat drug trafficker jailed for seven months
Nothing good happens at 4am. Certainly not during Curfew. And certainly not when you are loaded with drugs and a taser like this repeat offender.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A magistrate has warned a drug trafficker from Melbourne’s southeast he has “very stark” life choices to make after he was jailed for his ongoing offending.
Matthew Joseph was sentenced at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after he pleaded guilty on October 14 to charges of trafficking GHB, drug possession and possession of a taser in December and August.
He was arrested and remanded after police pulled him over while he was driving on August 21 at 4am on Point Nepean Rd in Toolgarook.
Officers found Joseph in possession of 1.14g of ice and a taser, and on the road while the chief health officer’s curfew was in place.
Joseph was denied bail after officers had previously picked him up on an outstanding matter, where he was caught in possession of canisters of GHB near the ANZ bank in Rosebud on December 9.
The court heard Joesph had three prior convictions for drug trafficking, including two in 2016 and one in 2019.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge told Joseph his prior offending made the court feel “increasingly guarded about your rehabilitation and to deter you from this conduct and protect the community”.
“You’re at the ageing stage where you get no discounts for being young and silly,” he said.
Mr Lethbridge told Joseph he had a choice between becoming “an institutionalised offender” or to rebuild and “get the support you need to make sure you don’t relapse and go back to this type of offending, which will only see you back in custody”.
He said Joseph’s sentence would have been larger had it not been for his guilty plea in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Joseph was sentenced to seven months’ jail for his offences with 57 days already served as pre-detention.
He was also placed on a 15-month community corrections order following his release and fined $1650 for breaching chief health officer guidelines.
