Drug bid extends jail time
THE criminal records of two men who tried to smuggle drugs into Capricornia Correctional Centre show a disregard for the law and look like resumes of career criminals.
Nathan Allan Cameron, 27, and Jack Noel Spark, 20, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton District Court on Thursday to one count each of supply dangerous drugs with aggravating circumstances.
Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said they had used the prison phones to call Spark’s girlfriend and threaten her into bringing 150 strips of restricted drug.
Judge Paul Smith said: “The problem is people go to jail for rehabilitation and this disrupts that rehabilitation process.”
Cameron also pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice, and Spark pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a motor vehicle and drug-related charges.
Cameron had offered to pay someone to get Spark’s girlfriend to retract her statement so he could apply for parole.
Ms Lawrence said Cameron’s criminal record included 68 offences with 15 different court appearances, including trafficking drugs, entering premises and stealing, producing dangerous drugs and supplying dangerous drugs.
Cameron was busted trafficking drugs from the Spanish Lace Motel in Bowen Rd, Townsville, after hotel staff complained to police the room had been paid for with counterfeit notes. Ms Lawrence said Cameron was serving a seven-year head sentence for previous convictions when he pleaded guilty on Thursday.
She said Spark had 32 offences on his criminal record with five court appearances.
His history involved dishonesty and property offences, along with unlawful uses of motor vehicles. Spark’s record includes a crime spree in Townsville after he cut off his GPS tracking bracelet because it made him feel like he was being treated “like a paedophile”.
Judge Smith sentenced Cameron to a two-year head sentence with immediate parole eligibility. It is to be served cumulative to the sentence he had received for trafficking drugs and 13 supplies.
He sentenced Spark to a two-year head sentence, with parole release on December 3.
Convictions were recorded.