STATE OF TASMANIA v MARK RAYMOND ROLAND 12 JUNE 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
On 7 December 2023, I sentenced you, Mr Roland, to a term of imprisonment of two years, commencing on 30 June 2023, with eligibility for parole after having served one year. That sentence was imposed in respect to three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001. The three counts concerned controlled substances that were found during a police search of your home in Devonport on 2 July 2020.
The first count on the indictment related to the drug N-Ethylpentylone. The second count on the indictment related to the drug 1,4-Butanediol. The third count on the indictment related to trafficking in the substances MDMA, methylamphetamine and cocaine. It was following a trial by jury that you were convicted of all three counts.
On 27 May 2025, the Court of Criminal Appeal upheld an appeal against your conviction on the second count on the indictment and substituted a verdict of acquittal. The matter has now been remitted to me for re-sentencing.
Obviously, you are to be re-sentenced in respect to count 1 and count 3 on the indictment. I do not stay to repeat the facts upon which I sentenced you. They are set out in my Comments on Passing Sentence, dated 7 December 2023. Factually, little has changed. I do take into account comments you made to me at the re-sentencing of this matter, relevant to your asserted continued abstinence from the use of substances.
In summary, in terms of the illicit substances found, police found 30.1 grams of N-Ethylpentylone; 38mls of 1, 4-Butanediol; 4.28grams of methylamphetamine; 4.4grams of MDMA and 2grams of cocaine.
The quantity of 1, 4-Butanediol relevant to the second count on the indictment, was found in the refrigerator in a workshop area. Other people had access to the workshop area and, at least, four other persons were present in that area when police arrived to conduct the search on 2 July 2020. The Court of Criminal Appeal determined a reasonable jury could not exclude, beyond reasonable doubt, as a reasonable and rational hypothesis, that the drug belonged to one or more of those persons, or indeed another of your associates who frequented your residence, and was for personal use. Upon that basis, your conviction for count two on the indictment was set aside. The street value of the 1, 4-Butanediol was minimal. It was valued at approximately $1,500. It was then a more minor aspect of the overall trafficking charges of which you were convicted and for which you were sentenced on 7 December 2023.
Given all of the other matters which it was necessary to take into account in sentencing you, and to which I have referred in my original Comments on Passing Sentence, the trafficking in respect to the 1, 4-Butanedoil was not a significant component of the ultimate sentencing outcome. I therefore consider I should vary the original sentencing order to some extent, to reflect the fact that you are criminally responsible for only two of the trafficking charges, but given the whole of the circumstances, the variation will not be great. In my view, the main of your criminality arose in respect to counts one and count three on the indictment. Your criminal activity associated with those counts, given the substances and quantity involved, was far more pronounced. I therefore re-sentence as follows.
On count one and count three of the indictment, I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment, backdated to 1 March 2024 to reflect the time you have already served in respect to this matter, both by way of pre-trial custody and the time you spent serving the sentence before being granted bail, pending the appeal. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served one half of that period of imprisonment.
The effect of my sentencing order, Mr Roland, is that you will be returned to custody to complete serving the sentence, although I note you will be immediately eligible for parole.