Drug driver wept

A CONVICTED drug trafficker and coffee business operator has been sent back to jail after being caught with the drug GHB and driving when disqualified.

One of the charges came when police intercepted the man behind the wheel after he drove to Ipswich to assist a woman fleeing a domestic situation, the court heard.

Toowoomba man Travis Copeland went before Ipswich Magistrates Court for sentence on Friday and appeared to be in disbelief, becoming emotional when the magistrate sentenced him to actual time behind bars.

Travis James Copeland, 31, pleaded guilty to five charges including driving when drug positive (methylamphetamine) on June 11; driving when disqualified on March 23; driving when disqualified on May 14; and being in possession of the drug GHB at Fortitude Valley in Brisbane on May 14.

Police prosecutor Ricky Tsoi said Copeland had extensive history, with 17 pages of offending including convictions for similar offending.

Mr Tsoi said Copeland was sentenced by Brisbane Supreme Court in January 2019 for drug trafficking and received a head sentence of three years and three months.

In March this year an Ipswich court sentenced him to six months jail, suspended for four years, for two disqualified driving offences.

“He ought to have known not to be behind the wheel and the consequences of not complying with court orders,” Mr Tsoi said.

Defence lawyer Zoe Kansky said Copeland was the manager for a Coffee Club.

“In 2016 he was introduced to the drug ice and his life became unstuck. He began stealing to fund his drugs habit,” Ms Kansky said.

“He was a daily if not hourly user, and it came to a head in January 2016 when he was sentenced in the Supreme Court for trafficking.”

The court heard Copeland lived in Toowoomba and worked in the family mobile coffee business.

Ms Kansky said the disqualified driving offence on March 23 involved Copeland travelling to Flinders View at 11pm to help a woman who was leaving her partner. He relapsed back into drug use after a family tragedy in May.

Magistrate Leanne Scoines said Copeland had a long history of drug and dishonesty offences and that these offences were linked to addiction.

Ms Scoines imposed a sixmonth jail term, with immediate eligibility to apply for parole.

He was disqualified from driving for at least two years.