Violent drug dealer says he doesn't want a life of crime

Scott Coates told the Wodonga Koori Magistrates Court on Friday he had become a Christian while in custody.

Coates was recently jailed for 11 months and ordered to perform community work after kidnapping a man in Wodonga and detaining him in December 2020 over a minor drug debt.

The victim was bashed, engraved with a knife and had a huge amount of property stolen from him.

The court heard on August 20 last year, while on bail, Coates punched a man four or five times in the stomach outside Victory Lutheran College.

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He was found with prescription medication and admitted to being in a "little scuffle" with the victim.

Coates told magistrate Ian Watkins his drug use had gotten out of control, and he no wanted to "keep on the straight and narrow".

He said he'd weighed just 60 kilograms on drugs and now weighed at least 90 kilograms.

"I was very off the rails and it wasn't good," he said.

Coates said he wanted to use his intelligence for something good, "rather than a life of crime and life behind bars".

Coates said he wanted to move to Melbourne once he was released from custody and undertake a mechanical apprenticeship.

Magistrate Ian Watkins convicted Coates over the assault and imposed a $750 fine.

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