A Mount Gambier man has received a suspended sentence after being caught with almost six times the traffickable quantity of methylamphetamine.
Jason Garraway, 24, was sentenced to one year, eight months and 23 days suspended after pleading guilty to trafficking a controlled drug.
The Mount Gambier Magistrates Court heard that police questioned Garraway after seeing his car parked three metres out from the kerb on Pick Avenue in Mount Gambier in December 2020.
Officers found a baseball bat, a metal baton, almost $2,000 cash and a plastic container with slips containing crystals and powder.
The court heard analysis determined the substance to be 11.2 grams of methylamphetamine — about six times the "traffickable amount".
Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos said she took into account Garraway's early guilty plea and time served when sentencing.
Garraway had spent seven days in custody after being arrested, and a further one year, one month and 18 days on home detention bail.
Magistrate 'heartened' by change
Magistrate Kossiavlos commended Garraway on his compliance while on home detention, saying he had "no breaches" of his conditions.
She said his offending was a result of his own drug addiction but that his drug tests had come back negative.
She acknowledged Garraway was not a "street-level dealer" and that most of the drugs were to fuel his own habit.
Magistrate Kossiavelos said Garraway's "significant" time on home detention was "key in assessment" of his rehabilitation.
The court heard Garraway has held a position in the local wine industry since October, with his employer providing a character reference.
Magistrate Kossiavelos acknowledged Garraway's difficult childhood, trauma and homelessness and said she was "heartened" he had turned his life around.
