AFTER failing to show up to court for serious charges, including an armed break-in, Joel Robert McKillop smoked large amounts of ice as he tried to avoid the authorities.
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The 23-year-old was charged with the aggravated break-and-enter in February, with his father and brother also allegedly involved.
McKillop, also known as Joel Crighton, had been due to front Albury Local Court on October 16, but failed to turn up.
He had also gone missing while on bail, failing to report to police between August 11 and October 13.
When police caught up with him last week, the Lavington man was hiding underneath a blanket with 1.3 grams of ice in his wallet.
Police had received a tip-off that another wanted man, Tylan Graham, was inside a unit in Dight Street in central Albury.
They went to the home at 11pm on Thursday.
Graham, who was wanted for an alleged police pursuit that reached 150km/h in a 50km/h zone, was seen inside but ran into a rear bedroom.
Police smashed open the door with a battering ram and Graham was found on the floor.
They searched the rest of the unit and McKillop was found tucked underneath a blanket in the rear bedroom.
He was taken to the police station and a search found 1.3 grams of drugs in a resealable bag.
When asked what the substance was, he would not say.
“It’s good, it’s kept me up for three days,” the 23-year-old told the officers.
He told police he had used just before his arrest.
The offence was in breach of a court order for dangerous driving in Glenroy on March 17 last year, where he almost ran over a man in Malaguena Avenue, and other driving matters in Leeton.
The victim in the Glenroy incident had been forced to jump out of the way of his V8 Holden Commodore as he drove towards the man.
Albury Local Court on Monday heard McKillop had been going through a period of heavy drug use of late.
He was regularly exposed to drug use by family members while growing up.
The court heard his biological father had been in and out of jail, with the 23-year-old placed with six or seven foster carers while growing up.
He has mainly been couch surfing recently but will stay behind bars until Christmas Day after receiving a two-month jail term.
He did not react as the sentence was handed down.
He will return to court for the other matters on November 13.