A man caught with a bong in his hand when his friend was stopped by police for speeding was sentenced to 31 months’ jail for drug dealing yesterday.
The charges happened in Dunedin and Invercargill between May and November last year.
He has plead not guilty to a charge of possession of cannabis growth equipment which will be the subject of a judge-alone trial to be heard next year.
Nelson was a passenger in a car stopped by police for speeding on November 13 last year.
Police noticed the smell of cannabis and Nelson handed them a cannabis bong he had been holding, Judge Brandts-Giesen said.
Cannabis, ecstasy and $15,400 were located in a grey backpack in the vehicle.
Investigations which followed revealed the level of involvement Nelson had in supplying cannabis around the South Island.
A pre-sentence report states Nelson, who had been a shearer, started selling drugs because his income dried up during Covid-19 and he wanted to support his partner and child.
"If necessity is said to be the mother of invention, so too are difficult times which lead people to take measures they would not have taken in better times," Judge Brandts-Giesen said.
While Nelson’s counsel Roger Eagles submitted his client’s offending was more than a street dealer but not a dealer at a higher level, Judge Brandts-Giesen regarded his offending as significant.
Judge Brandts-Giesen said Nelson had no previous drug offences in his criminal history.
He sentenced him to 31 months’ jail and ordered for the forfeiture of drugs and paraphernalia.
He ordered Nelson’s phone be returned with any drug-dealing information to be wiped by police beforehand.
