"As part of the statement of material facts the state [sic] provided the court and your counsel with a CD, onto which had been transferred 17 intercepted telephone conversations which I have now listened to with some care. You were a participant in each of those conversations, which were recorded or intercepted and recorded over a relatively short period of time. The conversations run, in some instances, for less than a minute and in other instances there are calls which are in excess of two minutes' duration. In all, there are about 30 minutes of telephone intercept product recorded.
It is quite evident in listening to those calls, when one knows the background to this matter, that you and those to whom you were speaking are using a fairly obvious form of code, with reference to drug supply and sale and drug use, as well as the quality of the particular drug under discussion. The state's [sic] submission is that when one listens to those calls there is evidence that you were operating at [sic as] what has been termed an urban dealer and someone who was on-selling amounts of drugs. On some occasions you were also acting as a courier but it is clear that you were in possession of drugs and were indicating on occasion to the person to whom you were speaking at that time what you considered to be the general quality of the particular drug in question.
I accept that in the course of those conversations LSD trips are referred to as 'tickets', ecstasy tablets are referred to as 'pebbles' and methylamphetamine is given the code name of 'soda' or 'ice-cream'. On one occasion you tell a prospective client or purchaser that you don't want that person to be unhappy with the quality of the drugs you will be selling or supplying. You discuss price on some occasions and, as I have previously said, you discuss the quality of the drug on occasion, giving it a rating out of 10.
At one point you say that you have a theory that if the quality is excellent one can do the quantity. You are referred to in at least one conversation call as Bobby and you explain to the client or prospective purchaser that at that point of that call you were in a bad situation and you had a lot of money tied up in something that you could not move or were having difficulty moving.
Arrangements are made on a number of occasions for you to go and meet with the other caller at a particular location. In one other call you say that you have just got some pebbles and the quality was apparently good, in that you refer to it as being really dry, but indicate that you don't have any soda at the time. On another occasion you refer to the quality of the drug in question as being pretty average and you say it's all clumped together, or words to that effect.
It is hardly surprising that you and those with whom you were speaking used a form of code because obviously the industry or activity in which you were engaged was highly illegal and no doubt you and your associates wished to do everything in your power to lessen or decrease your chances of apprehension should, for example, the calls be overheard or intercepted. Your counsel advised the court that the contents of those calls are clear evidence of you talking in relation to selling methylamphetamine or amphetamines, LSD and ecstasy, although it was submitted that it was not a particularly sophisticated form of code or conversation.
You are now 22 years of age, having been born in South Africa on 5 November 1983. You have lived virtually all your life in Australia, as you came to Western Australia with your family when you were only 10 months old. You are the eldest child in the family and you have four other siblings. After arriving in WA you lived in a number of suburbs and attended a variety of primary schools before completing your high school education to year 12 level.
To your credit, until this offending - which is extremely serious - you have never offended and therefore you come before this court as a first offender. Your previous good character and behaviour no doubt are a reflection of the stable, loving, albeit strict, upbringing that you have enjoyed. You come from a very close-knit family and no doubt their Muslim faith and your upbringing in that faith is another factor explaining your previous law-abiding behaviour.
Your family, the court were told, are devout Muslims and not only do you come from a tight-knit and supportive family unit but also from a tight-knit and supportive Muslim South African community here in WA. You are fortunate that despite your offending you have the support of your family, from whom you were previously estranged but you are now reconciled, and members of your family have attended court on each occasion that you have appeared before the court.
I accept that your criminal behaviour and convictions have been a source of great stress and shame for you personally as well as your family, who no doubt are at a complete loss to understand the motivation for your behaviour. This perhaps is heightened when one considers the abhorrence with which your family and the Muslim community regard drug use. You were raised in a strict and religious environment, where alcohol and drugs obviously were not permitted. You were expected to obey curfews and there was a strong emphasis on study and education.
I accept that perhaps living in the wider Australian community there was some tension because, as I have previously remarked, your peers in many instances may well have experienced greater latitude in terms of the behaviour they were allowed to engage in and the social life they were allowed to lead, and it may be that you were subject to certain expectations that some of your friends and associates did not have to meet. That certainly in no way explains your offending but it may give some perspective to how the situation developed so that you found yourself in an environment where you committed these offences.
After a little difficulty you managed to obtain a place a [sic at] university in order to study communications and in fact you have completed two years of that three year degree. It was in the course of your studies in 2003 that you met your current wife, who is also of the Muslim faith. She, however, is from a Malaysian background and it was when you were preparing for your wedding that there were some family problems. There was some concern of the difference in background between you and your fiancee, which were overcome but there remained disagreements concerning arrangements for the wedding.
It seems that your father had a particular traditional view as to how the ceremony should occur, whilst you had a different desire. The end result of this tension and associated arguments was that you left home and that, unfortunately, proved to be a very unwise decision. At that point you found yourself at 21 years of age left to your own devices in a world where, given your rather strict and protected upbringing, you were somewhat ill-equipped to cope with its pitfalls due to your naivety and impressionable nature, albeit that it is obvious that you are an intelligent young man.
You accepted an offer of accommodation from a university acquaintance and being estranged from your family and the South African Muslim community, unfortunately you began associating not only with your housemate but, more particularly, that person's circle of friends. It was in this way that you were introduced to alcohol and drugs, because these people were involved in what has been termed 'recreational drug use.'
Unfortunately, you were curious about their activities and not only did you become willingly involved in drug taking but it escalated from there into drug dealing. Through your flatmate you met his cousin, with whom you became very friendly. This person apparently is quite charismatic and you were attracted to his self-confidence and popularity, to the point where you allowed yourself to be manipulated and used by him to a degree, although you clearly knew what you were doing, and you are responsible for the consequences of the decisions that you made. You assisted this person in his oil importation business on a part time basis, doing deliveries and suchlike. As a result, you became even closer in your friendship and you became well aware that this person was not only using drugs but also involved in dealing in drugs.
Over time you became more exposed to the drug subculture through this person and no doubt although you could see what he was doing was wrong and illegal, you still held him in great esteem, particularly as to peers he made you feel important and admired. You began to drop off drugs on his behalf relevant to, for example, count 3, unaware that this person was under surveillance by police and, indeed, phone intercepts were in place. On that occasion apparently you did not stand to gain financially but you certainly did on other occasions.
You became somewhat entrepreneurial yourself in the distribution of drugs and there is no question that there was a commercial aspect to your criminal behaviour. Sadly, you admit to obtaining a certain feeling of acceptance and excitement from being involved in the drug subculture. Your involvement was relatively short but you graduated quickly to a comparatively high level of involvement in that drug world. Obviously, you were caught red handed, as it were, by police, although to your credit you have cooperated with them in a number of ways, and this is mitigatory and you will receive some credit for it.
It is also mitigatory that you are still a comparatively young man and you have excellent antecedents. On the other hand, this is extremely serious offending and it is not isolated. Further, there is a reasonable amount of a very deleterious, not to say dangerous, substance being sold and distributed in a process in which you played an important role. There is no ill-treatment or appalling circumstances in your past that might explain your terrible lack of judgment and criminal behaviour.
It cannot be said that your immaturity and, in sense, lack of worldliness really explains your behaviour and it certainly does not excuse it. You have had the advantage of an upbringing which no doubt clearly taught you right from wrong but you rejected that in favour of what you seem to have believed was a somewhat exciting and thrilling lifestyle. No doubt you now appreciate how wrong your decision making was.
To your credit, apart from studying you have also been working as a delivery driver and at a charity call centre so you do have a good work ethic and you hope in the future to complete your studies and work in your chosen field. You also hope eventually to return to live with your wife and, with the support of your family, purchase a home and raise a family yourself.
I have received a number of references written on your behalf. Your wife expresses her ongoing support for you and similar words of encouragement and support are provided by one of your brothers. The former employer where you worked as a banquet porter speaks positively of your work ethic and your ability to cope with pressure. Your employer at the Pizza Hut where you worked since July 2005 again comments on your excellent work ethic and your leadership skills and further maintains that despite your convictions, he would not hesitate to employ you again.
A person who has known you and your family for quite a number of years speaks of the remorse which you show and the hope that this person has that you can be restored in the eyes of your family. You have a good record of attending to your studies, as one of your teachers attests. Your parents write a very moving and long letter on your behalf expressing their love and support for you and mentioning a number of features that are mitigatory relevant to you and your circumstances.
A legal practitioner who knows you and your family again speaks very highly of you and expresses his disbelief upon learning that you had been arrested and charged with drug offences. The letter he writes is very detailed and insightful in a number of respects regarding the cultural conflict that it seems you have experienced on occasions growing up in what effectively are two different societies or cultures.
All of the letters are to your credit and I accept that this offending is out of character for you and I also accept that this has been a most bitter lesson for you to the point where I do not believe you are at great risk of reoffending in the future. Whilst in that sense specific deterrence is not paramount, certainly in this case, as in all cases involving drug dealing, general deterrence must be strongly emphasised.
Considering your behaviour overall and the contents generally of the conversations that were intercepted, it cannot be said that you were at the lowest end of the scale in drug dealing. That is not to say of course that you were at the highest end, but you were relatively well placed, as you were able to come into possession, particularly with respect to count 1, of a considerable amount of methylamphetamine of a relatively high or at least mid-range purity.
The use of code in the telephone conversations intercepted indicates a reasonable and indeed quite good working knowledge of the drug world and it must be said that you are an intelligent young man and although you certainly were using drugs yourself, you were by no means a hopeless drug addict as you could not have continued to work and study if that were the case.
There is no argument that this behaviour had a distinct commercial flavour to it and whilst you were certainly assisting on some occasions with the distribution of drugs, at the end of the day you were not a mere courier. Although somewhat impressed and perhaps even enamoured of your flatmate's cousin, you were not a puppet, nor were you so in his thrall or under his spell that you did not make informed and deliberate choices on your own part to become involved in drug dealing.
In sentencing you I must take into account the gravity of your offending in each instance and the statutory penalty relevant to it. I am also obliged to consider all matters mitigatory and aggravating relevant to your personal circumstances and those of your offending. I am obliged in this particular case to consider the question of totality because I must structure a sentence that is fair and not so crushing as to give you no hope for the future or to ignore your need for rehabilitation and the community's interest in seeing you rehabilitated.
It has been made plain to you previously that a sentence of imprisonment for this type and extent of offending is the only appropriate sentencing disposition. Having reached that point, it is incumbent upon the court sentencing you to consider whether or not, in all of the circumstances, they being circumstances of the nature outlined by the members of the High Court in Dinsdale v R (2002) CLR 321 [sic [2000] HCA 54; (2000) 202 CLR 321] - as to whether any sentence or sentences imposed should be suspended.
This is always a matter which must be considered in the light of the individual circumstances of the case and the individual circumstances of the offender and it is discretionary, in the sense that it is in the discretion of the court. In all of the circumstances of this case, even taking into account your excellent antecedents and comparative youth, as well as your pleas of guilty, the gravity and nature of your offending overall is simply such that suspension of any terms of imprisonment is not appropriate.
Therefore, the sentence I am about to impose, taking into account all the factors previously mentioned, is to be served immediately. I have been considerably assisted by the general comments made in the various authorities referred to by the state [sic] in their sentencing submissions. It must be said, however, and the state [sic] concede, that sentences, for example, relative to amphetamine possession and distribution vary, taking into account types, quantities, purity and value of the particular drugs involved, as well as the individual circumstances of the commission of the offences and the individual circumstances of the offenders themselves.
As I have said, your personal circumstances are important but weight must also be attached to the protection of the community and vulnerable individuals in the community from this type of offending. It has been said, quite correctly, that where general deterrence is to be stressed, it outweighs positive circumstances attending those of the offender. As you would be well aware, drug use and abuse is a very significant problem in our community and it accounts for an enormous amount of distress and misery, not only to drug users and addicts and their families and friends but it also causes distress in the wider community because it underlies the commission of many crimes, including crimes of personal violence and dishonesty.
It places a strain on community resources to repair the damage done, not only physically and emotionally to individuals, but also to property which is damaged or stolen. It involves the expenditure of police time in investigating and pursuing matters in the courts. In the end it can truly be described as a blight on society. Unfortunately, you must accept that you have played a real role in this destructive behaviour and so therefore you bear some responsibility for the matters I have just mentioned."