Convicted killer pleads guilty to supplying meth in Darwin community

Convicted killer and standover man Shane Mulhall has pleaded guilty to supplying meth after a police raid on his home uncovered almost 75g of the drug and almost $70,000 in cash last year.

Convicted killer and standover man Shane Mulhall has pleaded guilty to supplying meth after a police raid on his home uncovered almost 75g of the drug and almost $70,000 in cash last year. Picture: AAP Image/Lucy Hughes Jones

CONVICTED killer and standover man Shane Mulhall has pleaded guilty to supplying meth after a police raid on his home uncovered almost 75g of the drug and almost $70,000 in cash last year.

The 38-year-old appeared in the dock of the Darwin Supreme Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to one charge of supplying a commercial quantity of methamphetamine.

The court heard that police raided his Bakewell home on October 16 last year and found a ziplock bag containing 74.66g of meth on top of his laundry water heater, a cryovac sealed bag containing $69,370 of cash in the washing machine and a handwritten ledger detailing meth sales of between $750 and $15,000.

Crown prosecutor David Morters SC said Mulhall had initially told police the bag of meth wasn’t his.

“He asserted the bag had been brought there by his sister’s boyfriend,” Mr Morters said.

“He couldn’t explain how the drugs had come to be on the top of the water heater.

“He now admits the distribution of meth in the Darwin community.”

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Mr Morters also told the court that Mulhall initially said the large sum of cash had been a present from his mum, before admitting that around $55,000 of it actually came from meth sales.

Mulhall’s lawyer Matt Hubber requested his client be assessed as suitable for a suspended sentence.

“I’m very much aware of the difficulties we face in asking for a suspended sentence … it is serious offending, my client does have history, he is in breach of a suspended sentence,” Mr Hubber said.

“He deserves the opportunity to show your honour his behaviour has been good.”

However, Mr Morters said Mulhall’s previous convictions, including a 2002 manslaughter conviction over the death of Troy Butcher, showed he should not be considered for a suspended sentence.

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Justice Stephen Southwood ruled Mulhall would not be assessed for suitability for a suspended sentence.

He will be sentenced on March 24.