STATE OF TASMANIA v RODNEY KAYE McCULLOCH 11 SEPTEMBER 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr McCulloch, you have pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in controlled substances, in particular MDMA, cannabis and methylamphetamine. You have also pleaded guilty to the summary offences of two counts of possession of a smoking device, three counts of using illegal drugs, one count of possessing a controlled drug and one count of unlawful possession of property.
The evidence relevant to these offences came from a search of your home conducted by police on 17 August 2023. Police located relatively small amounts of the relevant drugs together with smoking pipes, $4,845 in cash and other drug paraphernalia. They also seized your mobile telephone which contained incriminating messages concerning the sale by you of illicit drugs. This evidence demonstrated, and you accept, that between March 2022 and 17 August 2023, you conducted a business trafficking in the three drugs to which the charge relates. The trafficking was at a relatively modest level but did involve regular sales of drugs on a consistent basis during this period. Although the prosecution cannot accurately quantify the size of the trafficking business, the telephone messages indicated that you had been selling relatively small individual amounts to a group of about 20 customers, most of whom were your work colleagues. Your bank records reveal that over the relevant period you engaged in more than 200 individual transactions in respect of which you received an aggregate sum of $38,000. It is accepted that all of this money constituted the proceeds of drug sales.
You were 31 years of age when you committed this criminal conduct, and you are now 37. You have a limited criminal history which apart from one count of driving a motor vehicle with methylamphetamine and amphetamine in your body in 2019 and one count of possessing cannabis in 2022, does not contain any prior convictions related to illicit drugs. You did, however, receive a suspended sentence of imprisonment for your involvement as a member of a group in a serious aggravated burglary and assault in 2010. There does not seem to have been any drug involvement in those crimes. You were born locally, had a normal childhood and education and after leaving school at the end of grade 10 completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner. Unfortunately, in the years leading up to committing these offences, you started to use methylamphetamine and cannabis on a regular basis. You claim that this was a form of self-medication with the methylamphetamine providing energy to work and the cannabis relaxation after work. Unsurprisingly, this led to an addiction to these drugs. You also developed a gambling problem during this time. You commenced to sell drugs in order to fund your various addictions. Doing so may have assisted you in this regard, but it does not seem that you accumulated any significant profit from the trafficking. According to your counsel, despite maintaining regular fulltime employment, you are quite impecunious. I accept that all of your money, from working and from the trafficking, has been consumed by your drug and gambling addictions.
The crime you committed is serious. Trafficking disseminates illegal drugs throughout the community. All illicit drugs but particularly methylamphetamine, are highly addictive and destructive and cause great hardship to those who use them. An important sentencing consideration is general deterrence. On the other hand, I accept that your trafficking activity was relatively at a modest level, although it was sustained and consistent over a significant period. You are still in employment, and I accept your counsel’s submission that you are capable of complete rehabilitation provided that you can avoid future drug use. In my view, the appropriate sentence is a sentence of imprisonment, but I intend to wholly suspend the term and provide for a lengthy period of supervision. The suspension of the sentence will provide the opportunity for supervision, but also reflects the relative seriousness of the offending, your plea of guilty, your lack of significant prior convictions and the fact that you will suffer some further punishment as a result of a pecuniary penalty order which the State has sought in respect of the proceeds of the enterprise and which you do not oppose.
The orders I make are as follows:
You are convicted of the crime and the offences to which you have pleaded guilty;
In respect of the crime of trafficking and the summary charges relating to the possession and use of drugs, and the charge of unlawful possession of property, that is counts 5, 10, 11, 12 and 13 on complaint number 53327/23, you are sentenced to a global term of 18 months imprisonment. The whole of this sentence will be suspended for a period of 18 months on the following conditions:
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- that you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period.
- that you will be subject to the supervision of a probation officer. You must comply with this condition for a period of 18 months. That period will commence from today. The court notes that the conditions referred to in s 24(5B) of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition. These include that you must report to a probation officer within three clear days of today. In addition to the core conditions the order shall also include the following special conditions:
You must, during the operational period of the order,
- attend educational and other programs as directed by the Court or a probation officer;
- submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- undergo assessment and treatment for drug dependency as directed by a probation officer;
- submit to testing for drug use as directed by a probation officer;
- submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer;
- attend, participate in and complete the EQUIPS addiction program as directed.
I impose no further punishment with respect to counts 8 and 9 on the said complaint.
I am satisfied that the money which was seized by Tasmania Police in the sum of $4,845 is tainted property within the meaning of the Crime (Confiscation of Profits) Act 1993. Pursuant to s 16 of that Act, I order that the money be forfeited to the State of Tasmania.
You have not disputed the State’s application for a pecuniary penalty order pursuant to the said Act, nor the proposed assessment of the quantum of that order in the sum of $33,155. Having regard to the provisions of the said Act, it is appropriate to make the order. Further, having regard to the provisions of s 22 of the Act, I am satisfied that the amount asserted by the State is a proper assessment of the value of the commercial benefits derived by you from the commission of the crime. I note, in particular, s 22(6), which provides that any expenses or outgoings you have incurred in connection with the commission of the offence are to be disregarded in assessment of that value. Accordingly, pursuant to s 21 of the said Act, I assess the value of the benefits derived by you from the commission of the offence in the sum of $38,000 and I order that you pay to the State a pecuniary penalty in the sum of $33,155, which takes into account a deduction for the seized money which is the subject of the forfeiture order.
I make the forfeiture orders sought by the State under section 38 of the Misuse of Drugs Act