A young Warrnambool man caught with a container of ice, cash and digital scales hidden in his undies has been sentenced to four months in jail.
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Matty McNeil, 20, of Aitkins Road, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to trafficking and possessing methylamphetamine.
Lawyer Belinda Northey said McNeil had served over 100 days on remand in an adult prison.
“This is his first period in custody, which has been quite difficult,” she said.
“He has witnessed fights and other things that happen in jail that have shocked him.”
Ms Northey said McNeil was on a community corrections order for “low level drug trafficking” and had been making positive progress until he relapsed back into drug use after losing his job at a bottle shop.
She said his family and partner were “totally unaware” of the relapse and were “incredibly disappointed”.
On August 17, McNeil was intercepted by police driving a Nissan Pulsar on the Princes Highway at Purnim.
He has witnessed fights and other things that happen in jail that have shocked him.
- Belinda Northey
A search of the car revealed a small bag containing 0.14 grams of ice. He was arrested and bailed to appear in court at later date.
Then on September 29, McNeil was intercepted driving a Mitsubishi Magna on Warrnambool’s Raglan Parade.
A search of the vehicle revealed two glass ice pipes.
Police searched McNeil and located a packet of chewing gum containing seven grams of ice, valued at $2000, in his underwear.
He was arrested and conveyed to Warrnambool police station where a further search revealed a pair of digital scales, $750 cash and a Tupperware container filled with five bags of ice, totaling 5.74 grams, also hidden in his underwear.
The total weight of ice was 13 grams, with an alleged street value of $4000.
McNeil told police he didn’t know what was inside the packet of chewing gum.
He said he thought it might have been cash and had concealed it from police because he “knew it was dodgy”.
McNeil was sentenced to four months’ jail and placed on an 18 month community corrections order with 100 hours of unpaid community work.
He has already served 109 days in custody on remand and is expected to be released in late January.
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