A HEROIN user of 25 years has somehow managed to largely stay out of legal trouble despite his addiction.
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When he came to police attention on July 18, Matthew Rattenbury, 41, had been flying under the radar.
He had left his home near Albury and travelled to Victoria Street in Richmond, to swap stolen speakers for heroin.
Rattenbury was arrested trying to buy the drug from an Asian man who ran from the scene.
He told Wodonga Magistrates Court the speakers weren’t stolen, but he couldn’t prove where they came from.
Magistrate Ian Watkins was amazed by the 41-year-old’s limited criminal history given the drug use.
Rattenbury told the court he first used at 16 and was clean after the offence. He was fined $500 and ordered to pay court costs of $119.