Toowoomba father pleads guilty to supplying dangerous drugs to minor

A Toowoomba father has come under fire after supplying meth and other drugs to his underage child.

A Toowoomba father has come under fire after supplying meth and other drugs to his underage child. Picture: File

A Toowoomba man has admitted to offering his own daughter dangerously addictive substances on multiple occasions.

The 44-year-old Toowoomba father pleaded guilty in Toowoomba Supreme Court on Wednesday to 15 drug offences including two counts of supplying dangerous drugs to his 16-year-old daughter.

Crown prosecutor Abby Kong said the man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the child, supplied GHB, prescription opioids, cannabis and methylamphetamine to multiple people, including his daughter.

“Eight of the supplies were supplies of the schedule 1 drug methylamphetamine,” Ms Kong said.

“(There) was an offer to supply 0.1g of methylamphetamine to his own daughter – it’s not known if the supply eventuated on that occasion.

“(There) was another offer to supply GHB to the same child, being his daughter, again a small quantity.”

Ms Kong advised the man had been released on parole only one week before the offending began.

Defence barrister Nathan Edridge told the court the man had experienced an extremely traumatic upbringing living in southwest Queensland, leading to serious addiction issues.

“My client has experienced a particularly deprived background,” Mr Edridge said.

He advised the man had a gap in criminal history spanning around eight years, which he explained was a time of “sustained rehabilitation”.

“Until then he had a serious problem with alcohol, he dealt with that in that period of time,” Mr Edridge said.

“But later in his life, more towards the period of 2017, drugs became a particular problem for my client and in particular methylamphetamine became a serious problem for my client, particularly when he was around the Toowoomba area.

Mr Edridge added the man had engaged in drug rehabilitation programs while in custody and had plans to reconnect with family upon his release.

“Given his deprived background, he has continued to work on himself,” he said.

The man was charged with twelve counts of supplying a dangerous drug, two counts of supplying a dangerous drug to a person between 16 and 18 years of age, and one count of possessing an item used in connection with the commission of a drug offence.

Justice Thomas Bradley KC sentenced the man to two years’ imprisonment with 214 days of pre-sentence custody declared as time served.

“(These drugs) very seriously affect the lives of people who use them and become addicted to them; of course they also have an effect on the lives of people who are dependent on addicted people,” he said.

“I don’t need to tell you about that.

“The law looks very darkly to the supply of dangerous drugs to (underage) people.”

Justice Bradley ordered the man be eligible for parole immediately, taking into account time already served.