Michael Gilmore: Young NT tiler jailed for commercial cocaine, cannabis operation
A young tradie whose discharge of a sawn-off rifle led police to uncover a “not insignificant” drug supply operation will spend actual time in custody. Find out why.
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A young Top End tradie whose discharge of a sawn-off rifle led police to uncover a “not insignificant” drug supply operation will spend actual time in custody after a judge ruled his offending was too serious for other sentencing options.
Michael Joseph Gilmore, 21, pleaded guilty last month in the Supreme Court at Darwin to charges of supplying commercial quantities of cannabis and cocaine, and possessing property known to be from the supply of a commercial quantity of dangerous drugs.
The court heard the offences were detected on May 3 this year when NT Police executed a search warrant on the Johnston residence of Gilmore and his co-accused.
Officers had been seeking the pair after police CCTV situated at Virginia captured Gilmore and his co-accused firing rounds from a sawn-off rifle into bushland at Woodah Pl on the afternoon of April 25.
Upon arrival at the Johnston residence, police “noted a strong cannabis odour coming from inside the property” and they gained entry via an unlocked laundry door, Justice Meredith Day Huntingford told the court.
Inside the house, officers discovered 58g of cocaine, more than 6kg of cannabis, a set of knuckledusters, two imitation pistols, $25,870 cash, and a round of ammunition.
The drugs had the potential to reap for Gilmore and his co-accused about $100,000.
Gilmore was arrested on May 7 after presenting to the Palmerston Police Station, where he was arrested, the court heard.
He spent three days remanded in pre-sentence custody before being granted bail.
Justice Huntingford said although the offending was “not one of the most sophisticated drug operations which has come before the courts, this was at least to some extent an organised commercial venture”.
“The volume and profits that could potentially be obtained was not insignificant,” she added.
Turning to Gilmore’s individual circumstances, Justice Huntingford said he was born and raised in Darwin and attended O’Loughlin Christian College until year 11, when he left to obtain qualifications as an electrical technician.
At the time of the offending, he was working on road construction, and most recently had been employed at a Darwin tile contractor.
Justice Huntingford said Gilmore began drinking, smoking cannabis daily, and taking cocaine on weekends, in his late teens.
“You said that you purchased cannabis and cocaine from local suppliers in Darwin and you would on-sell the drugs to friends and associates, and in doing so, you offset the costs associated with your own drug use,” she said.
Although Gilmore reported he had found a new peer group, ceased cocaine use entirely and cannabis use mostly, and begun attending church and a young men’s youth group, Justice Huntingford said these steps towards rehabilitation had been marred by the defendant’s “more recent arrest on unrelated offending”.
Although she found Gilmore had good prospects of rehabilitation, the judge declined to accede to defence lawyer Peter Maley’s request for an intensive corrections order (a jail sentence served in the community) with hefty fine, despite having indicated on the last occasion she was open to the submission.
“In my view, the seriousness of the offending requires some time to be spent in custody,” Justice Huntingford said.
Gilmore was sentenced to two years and nine months’ imprisonment, suspended after six months on condition he be under supervision of a Probation and Parole officer for 15 months, and abstain from alcohol and drugs for the duration of the order.
Gilmore’s co-offender and erstwhile housemate is set to plead guilty to various charges in the Supreme Court at Darwin on February 12 next year.
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Originally published as Michael Gilmore: Young NT tiler jailed for commercial cocaine, cannabis operation
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