Man jailed for five years for selling $400k of meth

A Livingstone man who was busted with more than 12g of meth, equipment used for the manufacture of meth and a document of instructions detailing how to make meth, claimed he was “holding the items for somebody else,” a court has heard.

A 49-year-old man will serve over five years in jail for selling more than $400,000 of meth.

A LIVINGSTONE man who was busted with more than 12g of meth, equipment used for the manufacture of meth and a document of instructions detailing how to make meth claimed he was “holding the items for somebody else,” a court has heard.

Wayne Maurice Purtell, 49, appeared in the dock of Darwin Supreme Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to the sale of more than $400,000 of meth over a 12-month period, and to the possession of a trafficable amount of various drugs, drug paraphernalia and firearms.

Purtell was sentenced to seven and a half years’ jail with a non-parole period of five years and three months.

The court heard that police raided Purtell’s rural Livingstone property in January last year and found bags containing various amounts of meth, cannabis and MDMA throughout his house, shed and car.

They also found rifle ammunition and a silencer, glassware used in the manufacture of meth and 11 pages of handwritten instructions on how to make meth.

Police also seized a baby crocodile and carpet snake from Purtell’s house, which were taken into the care of NT Parks and Wildlife.

Purtell’s lawyer Thelma Gray said that, despite possessing the instructions and manufacturing equipment, her client claimed to have never made meth.

“Although those implements are there he has not been charged with manufacture,” Ms Gray said.

“They just happened to be in his possession.”

Ms Gray also said Purtell is a long-term drug user himself, and that much of the money he made from selling drugs fuelled his own habit.

During sentencing, Chief Justice Michael Grant told the court he rejected Purtell’s claim that he had nothing to do with the manufacture of meth.

“Those assertions are … that you were simply holding those items for somebody else,” he said.

“I’m not inclined to accept those second-hand assertions.”