A SHOAL Bay Country Club manager who knew police were going to target the club in a drug supply sting says he was joking when he offered to supply an undercover police officer a bag of cocaine.
Gareth Wilkinson, 42, a group manager for Zenith hotels who worked predominantly at the Shoal Bay Country Club, was off-duty on the night of April 29 when he was seen offering to sell 0.8 grams of cocaine to a patron at the waterfront hotel for $300.
But when he went to contact his "up-line supplier", who he said was somewhere in the hotel, he couldn't find him. Wilkinson gave out what he said was his phone number and told the guest to give him a call the next day. Police had established Strike Force Goondi a few months earlier to investigate the supply of drugs at the hotel, an operation that Wilkinson later said he was aware of.
Magistrate Ian Cheetham said if the offer to supply drugs was a joke, then it was "escalated" by the suggestion that he complete the transaction the next day.
"He knew the police were at some time going to conduct an operation, yet he conducted himself as he did," Mr Cheetham said. "It's a difficult matter to assess. "Why would he behave as he did if he knew there was an operation?"
Wilkinson's lawyer had pushed for a non-conviction, saying his client's reputation had been significantly tarnished and he was now unable to find work.
But Mr Cheetham said drug supply was too serious, convicting Wilkinson and ordering he perform 100 hours of community service. Shoal Bay Country Club bartender Dean Denehy was ordered to complete 175 hours of community service last week for supplying cocaine.
