Steven Michael Barton resumed selling drugs while still on parole

The Toowoomba Supreme Court heard a local dealer had a history breaching parole and suspended jailed sentences. Yesterday, he ran out of second chances and was locked up for four years.

A PRISON performance report handed up in the Toowoomba Supreme Court told of a man who was polite, keen to work and got along well with the jail staff.

And Toowoomba man Steven Michael Barton will remain behind bars for at least six months, when he becomes eligible for parole.

Barton, 31, faced a judge yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking and several lesser drug offences.

Crown Prosecutor Matt Le Grand said Barton’s drug association dated from 2017 when he was first placed on probation for a drug offence, but he soon breached it.

The court heard Barton was sentenced to jail in 2018 for street-level trafficking and weapons offences.

He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail on that occasion, suspended after 12 months.

Again, Barton breached the order by returning to drugs.

It was this latest round of offending that brought Barton before the court yesterday.

Mr Le Grand said Barton supplied, or prepared to supply, meth in quantities from 0.1-14 grams over a month-long period.

The court heard Barton earned about $2500 a week, made his customers pay upfront and complained to his supplier when his competitors were given wholesale amounts of methamphetamine on credit.

Acting for the defence, Barrister Scott Lynch said his client had a good work history until he turned to drugs after the death of a close friend.

Mr Lynch offered glowing character references and said Barton had a plan to get clean.

“He needs to sever ties with this community,” he said.

“He intends to move to Charters Towers and take up work as a truck driver.”

Justice Thomas Bradley ordered a head sentence of four years in prison, with Barton eligible for parole on July 7, 2021.

He also activated the balance of Barton’s suspended sentence from 2018.