Drug support worker accused of 100 heroin deals near Richmond injecting room
An award-winning drug support worker arrested after a three-month sting for allegedly trafficking heroin has won his bid to keep his case in a lower court where penalties are less.
Police & Courts
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A drug support worker allegedly caught doing more than 100 deals of heroin on the streets surrounding Richmond’s controversial injecting room has won his bid to keep his case in a lower court where penalties are less.
Police allege Matthew Honey, 50, was trafficking heroin while working as a community outreach worker at the North Richmond Community Health centre.
The award-winning drug and alcohol worker was among eight people arrested following a three-month sting, dubbed Operation Sievers, in October.
The prosecution argued he was “one of the most significant offenders” and that his charges should be heard in the County Court, where the maximum penalty for trafficking in a drug of dependence is 15 years.
But Mr Honey was granted summary jurisdiction to keep the case in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
A magistrate can only impose a maximum total sentence of two years for a single offence, and five years for multiple offences.
Magistrate Keiran Gilligan agreed with defence submissions it was low-level street trafficking and with Mr Honey’s limited criminal history and personal circumstances, the magistrates’ court had adequate sentencing powers.
“It was unsophisticated offending,” Mr Gilligan said.
“He used his own work phone and his name.
“There is no significant evidence of enrichment.”
The court heard Mr Honey was a longstanding drug user with a major depressive disorder, who had lost his job and been the subject of significant media attention since his arrest.
Mr Gilligan said the 30-page prosecution summary alleged Mr Honey had trafficked heroin in some 100 deals in Richmond between September 5 and October 24 last year.
He is also charged with conspiring with others to traffick the drug of dependence.
Nadia Giorgianni, for Mr Honey, had told Mr Gilligan they hoped to resolve the matter with the prosecution, but wanted the dates of the alleged offending reduced.
Prosecutor Lachlan Cameron said the sheer totality of more than 100 incidents of trafficking and the fact Mr Honey was working at the injection facility and lived nearby made the offending more serious.
Mr Honey, who provided advice on harm and reduction to local drug users at the drug injecting health facility, has now been banned from going within 50m of the centre.
In 2018, he was named Alcohol and Other Drug Worker of the Year by the Yarra Drug and Health Forum.
The forum, on its website, praised his efforts in saving the lives of many overdose victims, saying he was a “familiar and friendly face to the drug using community in North Richmond”.
Mr Honey remains on bail and will return to court on September 16.