An Invercargill man who offered to supply methamphetamine and sped past a primary school at about 120kmh while pupils were in attendance, was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail this week.
The charges all occurred between December 24, 2020 and January 18 this year.
Judge Callaghan said a search of Jackson’s phone by the high-tech crime group revealed about 45 communications with different associates via text and social media messaging relating to methamphetamine supply between December 2020 and March 2021.
Another phone, which was also forensically examined, showed there were 20 messages about sourcing methamphetamine.
In total he offered to supply 35g of methamphetamine, Judge Callaghan said.
The driving incident happened when police tried to stop Jackson.
When they activated red and blue lights, Jackson accelerated, ignored a stop sign and was estimated to be travelling at 120kmh past St Patrick’s School where children were in attendance.
"Police stopped the pursuit because of concerns for your driving and fears for public safety," Judge Callaghan said.
Counsel Roger Eagles said Jackson had a difficult personal background with the offending starting after the death of his mother in 2020.
Judge Callaghan said the death of his mother and the fact she could not have a tangi due to Covid-19 had had an impact on Jackson, especially as she was his main support person.
A pre-sentence report by probation services revealed Jackson had said he was a middle-man of a drug operation and he justified his dealing because of his lifestyle and his addiction to drugs.
"You indicated it had a snowball effect with you continuing to deal in drugs," Judge Callaghan said.
He sentenced Jackson to two years, two months’ jail and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.
