Two years clean but old offences put Chinchilla man behind bars

The judge acknowledged how hard he had worked to get his life back on track but at the end of the day he had to go to jail.

The judge accepted he was drug free and had turned his life around but he had to be jailed for his past offending.

Despite having not offended in two years and having put his life back on track, a Chinchilla father of two has been jailed for drug trafficking.

Ethan Douglas Lauder had trafficked methylamphetamine in the Chinchilla area over a 19-month period from January 13, 2017, Toowoomba Supreme Court was told.

Even when he was arrested and had his phone seized by police on March 7, 2018, the now 26-year-old had dealt drugs another four times which was discovered when police seized the phone of another offender, Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie told the court.

Because the police operation had not been completed until 2019, Lauder’s case had been delayed going through the court system, she said.

After his arrest Lauder had spent about five weeks in custody but only 23 days of that was declarable under the sentence, Ms Petrie said.

Lauder pleaded guilty to trafficking meth.

His barrister Jessica Goldie told the court her client was a plumber who worked in gas fields and supported his two children who lived with their mother on the Gold Coast.

One of Lauder’s daughter’s had cystic fibrosis and his wage helped pay for her treatment and equipment, she said.

Because he worked away a lot, Lauder hadn’t done drug rehab programs, but he had not offended in two years and in a letter tendered to the court, his employer spoke highly of him, Ms Goldie submitted.

Justice Martin Burns commended Lauder on his resolve “to get away from drugs and adverse friendships”.

“You seem to have succeeded in that regard,” he said.

“You have progressed so well in the community.”

Justice Burns said he accepted Lauder’s trafficking was at street level to feed his own habit but “it’s serious offending”.

Lauder was sentenced to four years in jail, the term to be suspended after nine months with the balance to hang over his head for five years.