Kingaroy man faces jail after carrying meth on joy ride

A Kingaroy man has been warned by a magistrate he faces prison if he is caught with “so much as a bong” in the next 12 months.

DRUG CHARGES: Benjamin Stolzenberg was caught with meth while riding a stolen bicycle. (Picture: File)

A JOY ride didn’t go to plan for a Kingaroy man who was caught by police riding around town on a stolen push bike while carrying drugs

Benjamin David Stolzenberg received a suspended sentence of one month imprisonment for each of the five charges he pleaded guilty to in Kingaroy Magistrates court on July 6.

While on probation, the 35-year-old was charged with two counts of the unlawful possession of a dangerous drug, one count of possessing stolen property, one count of obstructing police from duties and one count of possessing drug related utensils.

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Magistrate Andrew Sinclair said Stolzenberg was clearly not doing well on parole.

“The whole point of your parole is for you to beat your drug addiction so you don’t go around the community committing offences,’ Mr Sinclair said.

“These offences were committed while on bail, you have a lengthy history with dishonesty and drugs and you have previously been granted numerous orders.

“For this I am sentencing you to one month prison for each offence to run concurrently on a suspended 12 month sentence.

“If you as so much get caught with a bong in the next twelve months you will be going to prison.”

Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi said the series of charges begun on 23 May.

“Police received info about a male riding a bicycle stolen from a Glendon Street address and once police located the defendant they noticed the bike had been spray painted,’ Mr Gangemi said.

“After searching the defendant police found a point (1 gram) of meth in his wallet and then begun walking him to the police car when he started arguing and refusing to handover the stolen property.

“Prior to getting in the vehicle he nudged an officer causing a struggle before being taken to the ground and handcuffed.”

A search warrant on a Fitzroy Street address also uncovered 1 gram of meth and two bongs, which were found in the defendant’s caravan wheels.

The defendant‘s lawyer Jo Rose said he was intoxicated at the time of the offence.

“My client has been progressing on his probation, completing a course at Graham House, however accepts he is a recreational meth user,’ Ms Rose said.

“His history shows significant issues with drugs however prior to the offence he was regularly engaged with probation and parole.”

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