A MAN who said his stash of marijuana was in preparation for his family’s move to Queensland has been jailed.
Mark Lockwood, 44 of Denneys Street, Warrnambool, and Nicole Lockwood, 39, of Eccles Street, Warrnambool, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court this week after a drug search at their house last year uncovered about 450 grams of marijuana, a handgun, mobile phones used for drug trafficking and notes relating to money owed.
In court, Mark Lockwood pleaded guilty to trafficking a drug of dependence, possess proceeds of crime, possess a handgun and recklessly cause serious injury.
Nicole Lockwood pleaded guilty to possessing a drug of dependence.
The court heard that on Christmas Day last year Mark Lockwood was at his estranged wife’s house when he argued with another man.
Lockwood left the house and followed the victim before punching and kicking him.
Lockwood’s defence counsel said his client had a history of cannabis use and had purchased a large amount of the drug for his own use.
He said family and friends knew he had the marijuana and they were who he had sold it to.
He said it was not an extensive network and Lockwood was not living the high life but was stockpiling the drug to take with him when he moved to Queensland.
Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt said in the past 20 years he hadn’t dealt with a trafficking case where the accused wasn’t dealing to their friends.
The court heard the handgun was found in the garage and did not belong to Lockwood, who told Mr Klestadt he’d done the wrong thing.
“The wife had no involvement in what happened and I’m terribly sorry,” he said.
Defence counsel for Nicole Lockwood, Patrick McComish, said his client had been punished since the police knocked on the door.
He said not only did she become aware of her husband’s illegal activities but also of his infidelity and had moved into a caravan, then in with a daughter.
He said she had been a property manager for seven years: “Her work history presents a very hard working person without any need to resort to illegal activities.”
Mr Klestadt said Nicole Lockwood must have known the marijuana was there because it was in plain sight, but accepted she didn’t know the extent of her husband’s conduct and had paid a relatively high price for it.
She was convicted and fined $500.
Mark Lockwood was convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ jail with a non-parole period of six months.
