LACEY CURTAINS
TAXPAYERS will pay for former milk baron Ken Lacey to have regular field trips from prison for medical treatment in Brisbane.
Lacey will spend the next three months in jail for giving a friend 45g of cocaine, estimated to be worth $12,000-18,000, in 2015.
The Southport District Court yesterday heard Lacey, who 10 years ago sold his Hedges Ave mansion for $16.8 million, needs twice-weekly massages and regular hydrotherapy baths after shoulder reconstruction surgery.
If the prison can not handle his medical needs he would be referred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment.
TAXPAYERS will pay for former millionaire milk baron Ken Lacey to have regular field trips from prison for medical treatment at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.
Lacey last night slept behind bars for the first time as a part of his three-month stint in prison for supplying 45g of cocaine to his friend, Nathan Miller.
Judge David Kent sentenced Lacey in the Southport District Court yesterday to two-and-a-half years prison, with parole on August 10, for five charges including supplying dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Lacey, 60, supplied 13, 3.5g bags of cocaine, also known as “eight balls’’, in August 2015 to Miller.
He listened to Mr Kent attentively and calmly walked into the cells at the conclusion of proceedings.
In a letter to the court, Lacey said he had stopped taking cocaine and had the
drugs left over so offered them for sale to a friend.
“If I had my time over again I would throw them out with the rubbish,” he wrote in the letter.
The drugs had an estimated street value between $12,000 and $18,000.
The drug was cut with clenbuterol and levamisole which are both only used in veterinary treatment.
A police drug bust targeting another dealer captured Lacey regularly going to a stolen Commodore and looking in a black bag.
The activity led to his capture after police tapped his phone.
Miller was sentenced to two-and-a-half years prison, to serve six months, while Lacey’s girlfriend Arianne Stringer was sentenced in November to 12 months probation for possessing drugs.
The court heard Lacey is currently unwell after shoulder reconstructive surgery and needs twice-weekly shoulder massages and regular hydrotherapy baths.
Crown prosecutor Judith Geary said Lacey’s medical records had been reviewed and Queensland Corrective Services had determined that if the prison could not handle his medical requirements, other arrangements could be made.
“He would be referred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment,” she said.
The court heard Lacey turned to cocaine after his wife of 35 years had an affair and his sons began to have legal troubles.
The former millionaire was forced to have the taxpayer foot his legal bill through Legal Aid after he spent $6.1 million on the legal expenses for his sons Dionne and Jade, who are in prison for the 2007 manslaughter of Nerang man Kevin Palmer and the torture of Owen Matthews.