Serial Darwin drug dealer ‘caught red handed’ at it again with commercial quantity of ketamine

A SERIAL Darwin drug dealer ‘caught effectively red handed’ at it again with more than six times the commercial quantity of horse tranquilliser has been jailed

‘The court can have little confidence that you will remain abstinent having regard to your track record.’

A SERIAL Darwin drug dealer “caught effectively red handed” at it again with more than six times the commercial quantity of horse tranquilliser has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Jake Hillman, 25, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to possessing a commercial quantity of the drug along with trafficable quantities of methamphetamine and MDMA.

The court heard police spotted Hillman driving on Daly Street in May last year and knowing he was already disqualified after an earlier drug driving charge, pulled him over for a test.

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After he tested positive for meth and cannabis, police raided his home later that same day and found 0.62g of ketamine, 22.67g of MDMA and 10g of ice, with some of the drugs hidden inside an empty deodorant can.

The officers also found five ice pipes, $1000 in drug dealing profits and “what appeared to be drug ledgers”.

In setting a non-parole period of one year and nine months, Chief Justice Michael Grant noted the offending came on the heels of a string of earlier drug convictions including a bust in which police seized almost $60,000 in ill gotten cash.

“It’s obvious that you didn’t learn your lesson from the very lenient disposition made by the court at that time and the structures that were put in place for your rehabilitation,” he said.

“Unfortunately, as you conceded in this process, you have had a number of opportunities for rehabilitation in the past including a court supervised opportunity and you’ve squandered those opportunities.

“You have completed some courses with the alcohol and other drugs service with the prison while you’ve been on remand on this occasion but the court can have little confidence that you will remain abstinent having regard to your track record.”

Chief Justice Grant said even when previously handed a suspended sentence in 2016, Hillman was “already a repeat offender” and “we’re well down the track from there”.

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“What became apparent after that sentence was imposed was that you were drinking excessive amounts of water prior to drug testing in an attempt to dilute your samples and sabotage the results,” he said.

“As we see now from you present circumstances in these more recent charges that have been brought, all of those efforts to facilitate your rehabilitation were to no avail.

“Unfortunately, you must now be characterised at the age of 25 as a recidivist drug offender.”

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