Son into a world of crime early on
DANNY De Jong’s foray into the underworld of drugs and crime seemed almost a birthright.
His childhood consisted of watching mum Natalie date a procession of “jailheads and bikies”, while many of her dubious acquaintances would hang around the family home, buying and taking illicit substances.
The 25-year-old tried cannabis for the first time when he was nine and stepped that up to methylamphetamines at 14 – the same year he joined a bikie gang.
He worked on fishing trawlers for two years after quitting school aged 15 and would spend the majority of his large salary on “drugs and partying”.
This morning he is set to be sentenced for his part in a major drug organisation spearheaded by his 50-year-old mother which involved the distribution of meth and heroin through Cairns for 18 months.
The Cairns Supreme Court heard yesterday his part in the scheme was nowhere near the level of Natalie’s.
He acted as delivery driver, drug packer and dealer for her newer or lower-end customers.
Such were his own ice addiction problems, he was not allowed to play a major role in the operation, except for two days when he was left in charge and given 57 grams of meth to sell.
He also spent periods of the drug operation business in jail, which further lessened his role.
“Because of his drug use, he wasn’t particularly reliable and wasn’t trusted with large amounts of money,” his defence barrister Michael Dalton said.
“Whilst ... he could not have been ignorant of the large scale nature of his mother’s business, he wasn’t privy (to all of it).”
Crown prosecutor Melanie Franklin conceded Danny knew of the meth side of the business, but could have been unaware of the heroin trade.
She called for a jail sentence of up to seven years for drug trafficking, plus a further period of 2-3 years for seven counts of drug supply.
Mr Dalton said after more than 640 days in custody on remand he had now made a conscious effort to turn his life around, completing a pre-tertiary course with plans of studying science at university.
“This is the first time he has been serious about changing his ways,” he said. “He’s under no illusions where he is and what today’s about.”
Justice Jim Henry is expected to sentence him today.