Judge jails drug dealer labelled as ‘greedy’

An Invercargill and Queenstown drug dealer was a greedy man who gave no thought to the people he was destroying, a judge said.

Judge Kevin Phillips sentenced Jayden James Pearsey, 22, to three years and 10 months’ prison when he appeared in the Invercargill District Court yesterday.

Pearsey had earlier admitted charges of offering to supply LSD and offering to sell cannabis, possessing LSD for supply, possessing cannabis for sale and refusing to give police his mobile phone PIN number.

Judge Phillips said Pearsey was involved in a significant and ongoing commercial drug dealing enterprise in Invercargill and Queenstown.

He had totally disregarded the impact his drug dealing had on people’s lives, including children, in order to make a buck, the judge said.

Pearsey’s offending was uncovered after police seized a phone during the search of a vehicle in Queenstown.

The phone showed a contact was in regular contact with Pearsey, in sourcing large amounts of cannabis and LSD to supply to the Queenstown and Invercargill markets.

Police searched Pearsey’s house in October 2021, finding more than $12,000 cash, 1655 LSD tabs and 8.86 pounds of cannabis.

Defence lawyer Bill Dawkins said drugs had been a feature of Pearsey’s life from a young age and his father had previously been convicted of selling cannabis.

Pearsey was using synthetic cannabis at age 14 and he was convicted of cannabis dealing at age 17, the court heard.

The judge told Pearsey in court: ‘‘You got a lenient sentence because of your age [17] and here we are five years down the track, you are involved in class A drug dealing.’’

His use of drugs from an early age had ultimately led him to court yesterday, but the judge did not accept that he was only selling drugs to pay for his own drug habit.

‘‘There’s no hard evidence you are addicted to drugs.’’