STATE OF TASMANIA v DANIEL JACOB LYONS 17 FEBRUARY 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Daniel Lyons, you plead guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance and to possessing a prohibited firearm, a gel blaster. I also agreed to deal with your pleas of guilty to the summary charges of wilfully obstructing the police and possessing a glass smoking device.
On 25 January 2022 the police, as a result of random testing of items at an Australia Post depot, discovered a parcel containing 28.7 grams, an ounce, of methylamphetamine sealed in bags. You had arranged for the parcel to be sent from Victoria to your home in Launceston. At the request of the police the parcel was delivered in their presence. As soon as the delivery was complete they knocked on the door intending to execute a search warrant. When you answered the knock and saw the police you attempted to slam the door on them and ran, thereby wilfully obstructing them. You were quickly apprehended inside. During the search they found your mobile phone, a snap lock bag containing 48.7 grams of MDMA, cannabis bud under a bed, digital scales, a quantity of a powder cutting agent, a large quantity of empty snap lock bags and the glass smoking device. They also found a gel blaster, an imitation firearm which propels gel projectiles by means of compressed air. This one was made of plastic and was in the shape of a 5.56 mm calibre Colt M4 select fire rifle. Because it was capable of firing projectiles in rapid succession if the trigger was held continuously it was, according to the definition in the Firearms Act, not only a firearm but a prohibited firearm.
I will deal first with the firearm charge. It is not disputed that it belonged to a friend of yours, you had it to try as something of a toy, and you did not know that possession of it was illegal. It is not suggested that you had it for any nefarious purpose related to the trafficking or otherwise, but in the wrong hands such items can be used to commit crimes because they look so much like the real thing. No doubt they could cause injury if used in an unsafe way. However this offence is best dealt with by way of a fine.
The trafficking charge is a different matter. It arises not only from your importation of the ounce of Ice on 25 January and the MDMA found at your home, but also because on your phone there were about 225 text messages relating to the sale of drugs sent to 16 different people between 8 October 2021 and the date of the search almost four months later. The charge is brought on the basis that during that period you were conducting the business of trafficking in methylamphetamine, MDMA and cannabis. You were a casual user of drugs. The trafficking started by you acting as a middle man by purchasing from local suppliers and selling small quantities to a close group of friends to finance your own use. However the number of persons you were selling to increased over time although you were not seeking out customers. You decided that it was safer to purchase methylamphetamine on-line rather than deal with the people you had been obtaining drugs from. On the basis of the material put to me by counsel you are to be sentenced on the basis that the intercepted importation was the first and only time you had sought to acquire drugs in that way. The commercial value of the methylamphetamine was up to about $29,000 and the MDMA almost $10,000.
I was informed of your personal circumstances by your counsel and by a home detention assessment report. You are aged 23. You come from a stable and supportive background although your father died when you were 11. You remain close to your mother. When you were 16 or 17 you acted up for a period and were subject to a probation order for some instances of dishonesty. However to your credit you sorted yourself out. You have no prior convictions related to drugs or any other serious offending. You are now a qualified roofing tradesman after having completed your apprenticeship and a reference from your employer speaks very highly of you. You have a strong work ethic and a good income. You are in a stable relationship with a supportive partner. According to your counsel the experience of being charged has been a wakeup call for you and you have found the process very stressful. The assessment report does not support that proposition and describes your attitude to this offending as poor. You have however ceased using drugs and realised the damage that may result to you and others. It is to be hoped that you have learned your lesson and you now realise how seriously courts and the law enforcement authorities treat drug trafficking. Why it is so serious has been explained many times. Ice in particular is a drug which causes great harm in the community and those who traffic in it can expect to be strongly punished. However you are a young man with good prospects and I think that prison should be avoided. I would have ordered home detention but it would require you to give up your employment. I think that is highly undesirable and so I will take a different course which also allows you the opportunity to avoid actual imprisonment. I will impose a term of imprisonment but wholly suspend it and a significant fine but it must be a substantial fine.
You are convicted on indictment 230/2022, the gel blaster charge. You are fined $200.
On complaint 30859/22, count 8, wilfully obstructing police you are convicted and fined $300. On count 9, possessing a glass smoking device, you are convicted and I make no further order.
On indictment 228/2022, the trafficking, you are convicted. I order that the glass smoking device listed on drug exhibit sheet 269886 and the MSM powder, ziplock bags and digital scales listed on property receipt 308466 are forfeited to the State. Pursuant to the Misuse of Drugs Act, s 36B, I assess the reasonable expense of and attending the analysis and examination of the controlled substances as $2,885 and award that sum against you as part of the costs of the prosecutor. You are sentenced to imprisonment for eight months, wholly suspended for two years from today. It is a condition of that order that while it is in force you do not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment. If you breach that condition then a court must order that you serve that term unless it is unjust. In addition to that order and to ensure sufficient punishment I impose a fine of $10,000. Those amounts total $13,385. If you require more than 28 days to pay you may enter into a repayment arrangement.