Case note
Home detention for methamphetamine supply
Supplying about 150 grams of methamphetamine, with a firearm. Credit for time on EM bail brought home detention within reach.
- Court
- District Court
- Counsel
- F Choi
- Charges
- Supplying methamphetamine (three representative charges)Offering to supply methamphetamine (representative)Possession of methamphetamine for supplyUnlawful possession of a firearm
- Outcome
- Eleven months' home detention, with 12 months' post-detention conditions
What happened
The defendant was part of a methamphetamine supply operation run by others. Phone evidence showed him offering methamphetamine to associates and supplying at least 50 grams in one month, and he was charged as a party to supply by another. In all, the offending involved about 153 grams. A search of his home found 8.64 grams, $1,900 in cash, and an unloaded firearm. He had no previous convictions. He pleaded guilty a week before trial, three and a half years after his first appearance, having spent 40 months on EM bail with one breach.
The point worth pausing on
The Court placed his role on the cusp of upper lesser and lower significant, and set a starting point of five years, including six months for the firearm. The late plea earned only five per cent. With youth, no previous convictions, rehabilitation, and remorse, the discounts came to 30 per cent in all, bringing the sentence to 42 months.
The time on EM bail then carried real weight. The Court gave 19 months' credit for 40 months on a 24-hour curfew, bringing the sentence to 23 months and within reach of home detention. It said offending of this kind would ordinarily call for significant imprisonment, and converted the sentence by a very fine margin, pointing to his lack of convictions, his youth, his compliance on EM bail, and his first child on the way.
Long compliance on EM bail earns real credit, and it can decide whether a sentence is served in prison or at home.