A Queenstown man caught with cocaine and a sawn-off shotgun in his car has been spared a prison sentence because of his prospects for rehabilitation, a judge says.
Bryan Thomas Smith, 31, of Shotover Country, was stopped by police while driving in Suburb St about 4.30am on September 11.
A sawn-off shotgun could be seen sitting in plain view on the back seat of his vehicle, prompting police to invoke search powers.
They found 0.61g of cocaine in Smith’s pocket, while in the vehicle were eight shotgun shells, 2.95g of cocaine, electronic scales, a large quantity of small self-sealing bags and a single round of 6.5mm rifle ammunition.
Smith told police he had taken the shotgun from his nephew out of concern for the latter’s safety, but did not know what to do with it.
He said he was a cocaine addict, claiming the drugs were for his personal use.
Smith, who was earlier convicted of possessing cocaine for supply, unlawfully possessing a firearm and unlawfully possessing ammunition in relation to the incident, was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court this week.
Under New Zealand law, anyone found with more than 0.5g of cocaine is presumed to be supplying or selling the drug.
Judge R. Walker said the amount found on the defendant and in his vehicle was many times that, while the bags and scales were "other clear signs of commerciality".
Although Smith had told police the cocaine was for his own use, he had later admitted to the author of his pre-sentence report he had been selling it to fund his own consumption.
The judge said he gave "no weight at all" to the defendant’s claim his possession of the shotgun and the drugs on the night of his arrest was an "unfortunate coincidence".
That combination was a serious aggravating factor in sentencing, particularly given a sawn-off shotgun had "no legitimate or lawful purpose" and there was ammunition close at hand.
He applied reductions for Smith’s guilty pleas and the steps he had taken to address his addiction, to reach a nominal sentence of 22 months’ imprisonment.
The court needed to send a strong message to drug dealers they would go to prison if they were caught, Judge Walker said.
However, he had decided by a "slim margin" to convert the sentence to one of 11 months’ home detention and 150 hours’ community work.
That would allow him to continue living in Dunedin with supportive members of his family, who did not condone the use of illegal drugs.
"You have limited previous convictions and good prospects of rehabilitation, given the support you now have around you.
"Imprisonment, in my view, would be a retrograde step for you given the trajectory you’re now on."
He warned Smith that if he offended in a similar away again, he should expect to go to prison.
