Geelong man Michael Hardy pleads guilty to drugs and cash found in car

A Geelong man has admitted to stashing cash and drugs in his car.

Amanda Hoe and Adam Bonney pleaded guilty in September last year. Pictures: Facebook.

A Geelong man who stashed drugs and cash in a car has avoided jail time despite his chequered past.

Michael Hardy, of no fixed address, admitted to owning 22g of ice, 23 Valium tablets, four vials of GHB and more than $15,000 in cash found inside a car in March last year.

Following a sentencing indication in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday, Hardy pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs of dependence in an amount for the purpose of trafficking, dealing with proceeds of crime and driving while disqualified.

Prosecution dropped a separate trafficking charge.

Co-accused Adam Bonney and Amanda Hoe were both found in the car and pleaded guilty to their role in September last year.

Bonney was only in the car for minutes before police showed up but was found with 12g of ice in his underwear.

The ice possession was the only charge Bonney was facing.

Bonney and Hoe were prepared to give evidence against Hardy.

Hardy’s defence lawyer, Sarah Pratt, submitted a neuropsychologist report that found he had an acquired brain injury and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

She said he was being supervised by the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Ms Pratt said Hardy has been in custody on drug maters before, but said to “put him back in prison …(considering) the things that are now in place, would compromise him when he returns to the community”.

Magistrate Franz Holzer agreed it would be “futile” to impose a term of imprisonment and said he was at “real risk of relapse” if he did.

Mr Holzer told Hardy to “make sure you don’t slip backwards”.

“(Drugs) is an offence against the community, it’s an offence that is abhorrent, and traffickers profit from people like you and others in the community who are subject to the drugs in question,” Mr Holzer said.

Hardy was placed on an 18 month community corrections order requiring 150 hours of community work.

Hoe was fined and placed on a community corrections order, and Bonney was convicted and fined.

Originally published as Geelong man Michael Hardy pleads guilty to drugs and cash found in car