Hayden Reece Tahu Parata was caught with a large amount of meth

The then 28-year-old had turned to drugs and ultimately to supplying cannabis and meth to others.

Stress from an acrimonious divorce had driven a Toowoomba man to heavy drug use and ultimately to supplying others with drugs.

Hayden Reece Tahu Parata was pulled over by a police patrol while driving in Toowoomba on April 17, 2020, and asked if he had “anything to declare” in the car.

The then 28-year-old told police he had some “gear” in a sunglasses case in a bag in the boot, Toowoomba Supreme Court heard.

Police opened the case to find the “gear” which turned out to be ice which weighed at 8.5g and was found to have a pure meth weight of 6.078, well above the 2g schedule, Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court.

During the search, Parata’s phone “beeped” and a subsequent police search of the phone’s contents found three messages referring to supplies of drugs including offers of a “half ball of meth” (1.7g) for $400, and Eightball of meth for $800 and half an ounce (14g) of cannabis, she said.

Ms Friedewald said it was the Crown case the drug found was for commercial as well as personal use.

Parata pleaded guilty to supplying meth and cannabis and to possessing meth above the 2g schedule and to possessing a mobile phone for drug supply.

His barrister David Jones told the court his client had been a long term cannabis user but stopped on the birth of his first child.

At the time of these offences, Parata had been going through a stressful divorce and had been drinking to the point of almost passing out and someone had offered him ice to wake him up, he said.

After his arrest and his ex-wife saying he was going to jail, Parata had been motivated to get off drugs to prove her wrong, Mr Jones said.

Since then, his client had done three drug tests in February, May and August last year which were all clean and he was now working as a meat inspector and living in Caboolture and in a new relationship.

Mr Jones said Parata was lucky he was caught when he was which saved him from going further down that track.

Justice Martin Burns sentenced Parata to two and a half years in jail but, in recognition of steps toward rehabilitation, ordered he be released immediately on parole.