Man jailed for four years after meth habit ‘spiralled out of control’

A 21-year-old Katanning man will lose the “best years of his life” after being jailed for dealing methamphetamine. Nelsen Stewart Robinson was sentenced to four years and nine months behind bars earlier this month after police found more than 80g of meth and $30,000 in cash hidden in a floor safe during a search of his home. In Albany District Court on November 1, Robinson pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited drug with intention to sell or supply. Because the quantity of meth was more than 28g, he was declared a drug trafficker. He also pleaded guilty to possessing money reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained. State prosecutor Sarah Jessup told the court police executed a search warrant at Robinson’s Katanning home on March 25. During the search a floor safe was located at the bottom of a storage cupboard. Inside, police discovered $30,000 cash and 82.96g of meth with a high purity of 79 to 80 per cent. Robinson initially told police he was storing the drugs for somebody else and would receive $10,000 each time he did, Ms Jessup said. However, he later came to terms with his offending, explaining through defence lawyer Seamus Rafferty that he started selling small amounts of meth to fund his drug use. Robinson was addicted to the “evil” substance and had been using meth every day for the previous 12 months, Mr Rafferty said. “On weekends, he would use 2g on each day, which is just a ridiculous amount of that substance to be using,” Mr Rafferty said. He started with “low-level dealing”, but like his personal use, it escalated. “In this case it just got completely out of control, to the extent that he is now going to lose and forfeit some of the best years of his life,” he said. Mr Rafferty said his client’s situation was another example of young people not understanding the seriousness of the drug. However he said his client “well and truly” understood that his meth dealing had contributed to harm in his hometown. “When you’re immersed in that subculture, even in a country town, that’s what everybody does,” he said. “Forty years ago, everybody went to the pub. Now it seems that people use methylamphetamine.” In sentencing, Judge Mark Herron took into account Robinson’s early pleas, youth and lack of criminal or road traffic record. “You were selling methylamphetamine in part to fund your own heavy drug use, but also for profit,” Judge Herron said. “You were selling methylamphetamine into a small country community ... you were operating a medium-scale drug enterprise for profit.”