Self rehab saves Toowoomba man from actual jail time

He had sworn off cannabis use, attested to by hair follicle and urine tests which had been clean, the court heard.

The 22-year-old had been selling cannabis at street level for two years.

POSITIVE steps to turn his life around and get away from cannabis use saved a 22-year-old Toowoomba man from serving actual jail time.

It was the moment he was put in a watch house cell that Bradley Robert McLeod had reflected on his life and realised he needed to change his ways or face spending time in prison, his barrister David Jones told Toowoomba District Court.

Since that day of his arrest more than a year ago, the 22-year-old had turned his life around, no long used cannabis and had clean hair follicle and urine tests to prove it, he said.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso told the court McLeod had over a two-year period been trafficking cannabis to a customer base of 53 from September 2017 to November 2019.

He had supplied the drug in lots of 1g for $25 or 1oz (28g) for $300, she said.

Mr Jones said his client’s drug use had stemmed from a traumatic childhood.

“He has a dark past and lived a life that children shouldn’t have to live,” he said.

However, since his arrest his client had addressed issues through seeing a psychiatrist and he was now on a mental health plan and doing well.

“Looking back he can’t believe how he was,” Mr Jones submitted.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren SC said McLeod’s efforts at rehabilitation had been demonstrable and that it appeared he had ceased drug use since his arrest.

“I’m satisfied that you are genuinely remorseful,” Judge Horneman-Wren told him.

Warning him he would now be his own jailer, Judge Horneman-Wren sentenced McLeod to three years in jail but ordered he be released immediately on parole.