David Alan Oddy, 67, told Judge Clive Jeffreys his only benefit from the deal was to be enough drugs to “keep me going for a couple of months”.

Oddy, who has used various drugs for four decades, had transported 55.5 grams of ice from Melbourne to Albury, hidden in a modified gas bottle.

He had been caught up in an operation targeting Clinton Roy Parkinson, who allegedly organised Oddy to transport the drugs.

Police arrested the 67-year-old on the Hume Highway in Albury on November 3, with two bags of drugs found in the gas bottle during a car search.

He was asked what would happen if the drugs got into the community during sentencing in Albury District Court.

“It would keep 55 people like me awake for a week and ruin their health,” Oddy replied.

“I was planning on having some substance for my addiction – there was no monetary gain involved.”

Oddy lost about 29 teeth from drugs, which he started using in the 1970s, having removed many teeth himself. 

He is working on pulling one of the remaining ones. 

While Oddy has had frequent work in various trades, which included building the Albury courthouse in 1987, and work on QEII Square, he has also battled problems with heroin and cocaine.

He has been on ice for the past 18 years and was using a gram a week when he was caught.

The 67-year-old expected to receive “10 grams or so” of meth for transporting the drugs. 

He was jailed for a maximum two years and four months and will be eligible for parole after serving 16 months.