A SELF-employed plumber went to jail yesterday for drug offences detected by a covert police operation with telephone intercepts over a long period relating to the supplying of “ice” in the area.
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But Peter Thomas O’Brien will spend just two days in jail with his release tomorrow.
His previous time in custody on remand was taken into consideration in a penalty imposed by magistrate Tony Murray in Albury Local Court.
O’Brien was sentenced to a minimum term of five months with a further seven months on parole.
Mr Murray said O’Brien, 42, had an intensive addiction to ice over a short period and made it a condition of his parole to submit to random urine analysis.
A further condition prevents O’Brien from contacting or being within 50 metres of Malcolm Collins, Samantha Stevens or former Albury drug squad detective Matthew Marshall who have been charged over alleged involvement in an ice syndicate.
O’Brien appeared for sentencing after pleading guilty to five counts of supplying a prohibited drug.
His solicitor, Mark Cronin, said there was only one actual supply of drugs with O’Brien getting $200 for 0.2 grams of methamphetamine.
In the other instances, O’Brien agreed to supply the drug to others.
When arrested and interviewed by drug squad detectives, O’Brien admitted spending $1000 weekly on his addiction.
At the height of his addiction, he was depressed and paronoid and the 16 weeks and 10 days spent on remand ended his drug use.
Mr Cronin said that initially O’Brien had some difficulty accepting the depth of his addiction to ice.
He was 40 when he began taking it orally and gradually built up the amounts.
Mr Murray was told O’Brien is in remission from a severe substance abuse disorder, but well on the road to rehabilitation after spending a month in a drug program.
Mr Cronin said his family was “keeping a close eye on him to ensure he does not fall off the wagon”.
Mr Murray said O’Brien had committed the offences between August 6 and October 6, 2012, but anyone who supplied drugs free of charge was committing a criminal offence.
“The offences clearly fall towards the lower end of the scale,” Mr Murray said.
O’Brien had come to drug addiction late and there was significant interest in supervising him on parole, he said.