SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

[2025] ACTSC 498

(1) On count 1 (CAN 3184/2023, trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis, namely cocaine), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months, commencing on 1 November 2025 and ending on 30 April 2027.

(2) On count 2 (CAN 3185/2023, trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis, namely methamphetamine and methylone), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months, commencing on 1 September 2026 and ending on 29 February 2028.

(3) On count 4 (CAN 3186/2023, trafficking in a trafficable quantity of cannabis), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 14 months, commencing on 1 September 2027 and ending on 31 October 2028.

(4) On count 5 (CAN 3188/2023, money-laundering), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months, commencing on 1 June 2028 and ending on 31 May 2029.

(5) Each of the sentences is to be served by intensive correction in the community, with a condition that the offender perform a total of 160 hours of community service within 18 months.

CRIMINAL LAW - JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - Judgment and Punishment - Sentence - trafficking in controlled drugs, namely cocaine, methamphetamine and methylone - trafficking in a trafficable quantity of cannabis - money laundering - significant level of drug dealing and dealing with proceeds of drug trafficking - offending while on parole and bail - significant criminal history of drug trafficking - pleas of guilty - unusual personal circumstances - no further offending while on bail - reasonable prospects that offender will not return to offending behaviour - sentence of 43 months' imprisonment - intensive correction order - community service condition

Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT), s 11(3)

Crimes Act 1900 (ACT), s 114B

Criminal Code Regulation 2005 (ACT), s 5(2)(d), Sch 1

Magistrates Court Act 1930 (ACT), s 90A(10)

1. Nathan Davidson has pleaded guilty to the following offences:

(a) count 1: trafficking in a controlled drug, namely cocaine (CAN 3184/2023);

(b) count 2: trafficking in a controlled drug, namely methamphetamine and methylone (CAN 3185/2023);

(c) count 4: trafficking in a trafficable quantity of cannabis (CAN 3186/2023); and

(d) count 5: money laundering (CAN 3188/2023).

1. The maximum penalty for the offence of trafficking in a controlled drug contrary to s 603(7) of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) is 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $160,000, or both. The maximum penalty for the offence of trafficking in a trafficable quantity of cannabis contrary to s 603(5) of the Criminal Code is 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $160,000, or both. The maximum penalty for money laundering contrary to s 114B of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) is 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $160,000, or both.

1. The facts upon which the offender is to be sentenced are agreed and are set out in an agreed statement of facts.
2. The charges arise from the execution of a search warrant at the offender's unit in Amaroo on 28 March 2023.
3. Police found a number of automated locking systems inside hidden cavities within the unit. In two such cavities, they found cash and drugs. They also found a cannabis plant in the laundry, along with a lamp and some cannabis leaves. They found some additional cash in the offender's wallet and a number of handwritten notes which appeared to be "tick sheets", that is, sheets recording asserted financial liabilities of persons to whom illicit drugs had been supplied.
4. Interestingly, police observed that on the offender's mobile phone was footage from five different CCTV cameras. Two of those cameras were not installed at the offender's residence but rather on street signs near the unit complex.
5. The drugs and money the subject of each of the charges (along with the relevant thresholds in Sch 1 to the Criminal Code Regulation 2005 (ACT)) are as follows:

1. N,N-dimethylpentylone is a drug similar to methylone (item 124 of Pt 1.2 of Sch 1 to the Criminal Code Regulation) in that it has a similar composition and structure, but it has two additional methylene groups. It is a homologue of methylone, as described in s 5(2)(d) of the Criminal Code Regulation, and hence also a controlled drug.

1. The offender was involved in a significant level of drug dealing. That was demonstrated not only by the weights of drugs involved but also by the proceeds of crime, the "tick sheets", and the security infrastructure in the form of CCTV cameras and hidden compartments. The cash was the proceeds of drug trafficking.
2. The offender was on parole for offences of drug trafficking at the time of these offences as well as being on bail arising from allegations of family violence.
3. Each of the drug trafficking offences is at the upper end of the mid range of objective seriousness. The money laundering charge is a mid range offence.

1. The current personal circumstances of the offender are principally disclosed in an intensive correction order assessment report. A variety of material prepared for a sentencing hearing which was due to take place in 2024 was also relied upon.
2. The offender was born and raised in Canberra and had a positive upbringing. He is the eldest of four siblings and has regular contact with one sister and his father. He has less contact with his other two siblings and no contact with his mother.
3. He completed Year 12. He then obtained qualifications as a solid plasterer and worked as a renderer for 10 years, for five of which he was self-employed. His business declined in 2013 due to illicit substance use. He was approved for a disability support pension in 2023.
4. He has two children from a previous relationship who are 15 and 13 years old. He has regular contact with both children.
5. He has been in a relationship with his current partner for two years. His partner has a criminal history and has been involved in previous offending with the offender.
6. Although the offender is subject to current protection orders, neither relate to his current partner or the mother of his children.
7. The offender used cocaine from his late 20s. He became dependent on the substance, spending up to $2,000 per week. He also used heroin and cannabis. He reported abstinence from all substances for over five years and from alcohol for over six years.
8. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child, and bipolar disorder and antisocial personality disorder as an adult. His current diagnoses are bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. He has recently undergone shoulder surgery.
9. The author of the intensive correction order assessment report identified that the offender's lack of prosocial activities to occupy his time and mental health issues are his primary risk factors. The offender is identified as suitable for a community service work condition. He is also assessed as suitable for an intensive correction order.
10. In 2016, the offender was the subject of three intensive correction orders for drug‑related offences. His compliance over the 15 months was superficial and there was further offending during this period.
11. He was released on parole on 19 August 2021. He was charged with the current offences and remanded in custody on 29 March 2023. His parole was cancelled. He was released on bail on 2 October 2024.
12. His father wrote a letter to the court which was tendered on behalf of the offender. That indicates that there are reasonable prospects for rehabilitation and that the offender has an intention to do what he can for the benefit of his two children.
13. [Paragraphs 24 to 35 redacted]

1. The offender has a significant criminal history principally relating to drug trafficking. This includes the following. In 2016, he was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for three counts of trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis and possession of the proceeds of crime. In 2018, he was sentenced on four charges of trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis and possessing the proceeds of crime. He was given an aggregate sentence of six years and nine months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years and eight months.

1. The proceedings were initially committed to this court for sentence as a result of the offender having pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court in May 2023. The offender then applied to have the proceedings remitted to the Magistrates Court pursuant to s 90A(10) of the Magistrates Court Act 1930 (ACT), in order that he be able to apply to withdraw his guilty plea. He did so and was committed to this court for trial at the end of 2024. However, ultimately, he entered pleas of guilty in July 2025, which led to him being sentenced today.

1. The offender has spent 12 days in custody solely attributable to these offences. The balance of the time spent in custody was as a result of the revocation of parole in relation to the sentences imposed in 2018. That revocation of parole was contributed to by the allegation of the current offending. The sentence will be backdated by the 12 days solely attributable to the current offending, and I have taken into account the period of one year, four months and 24 days following the revocation of parole in determining the manner in which the sentences of imprisonment are to be served.

1. In a usual case, the repetition of significant drug-related offending of this type in circumstances where the offender has failed to be deterred by a very significant custodial sentence would call for a significant custodial sentence not only in a further effort to deter the offender from offending in the future but also to protect the community from such offending. The circumstances of the present case are, however, distinguished by the personal circumstances of the offender, to which I have referred earlier. The appropriate sentence is also influenced by the fact that the offender has been in the community subject to bail conditions since 19 September 2024 and there is no evidence of further offending.
2. The real question will be whether, at the conclusion of the sentence, the offender returns to his previous pattern of offending behaviour. Having regard to his age, the process that he has been subject to as a result of his previous sentence and the revocation of parole, and his subjective circumstances referred to earlier, I consider that there are reasonable prospects of him not doing so. That will involve him abstaining from illicit drug use as well as from trafficking. Obviously, if he does return to drug use and trafficking, it will be impossible to allow him the leniency which the unusual circumstances of the present case allow him to be given.
3. The sentences that I will impose are as follows:

1. The aggregate sentence is 43 months, or three years and seven months' imprisonment.
2. Taking into account each of the matters in s 11(3) of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act, but also giving significant weight to the consequences for the offender of a sentence of full‑time imprisonment, I consider that it is appropriate that the sentence be served by intensive correction in the community. In the circumstances of this case, both the prosecution and the offender submitted that if the matter was dealt with by an intensive correction order, it would be appropriate to require, in order to facilitate the reintegration of the offender into the community, the performance of a period of community service. The offender will be required to perform 160 hours of community service within 18 months.

(1) On count 1 (CAN 3184/2023, trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis, namely cocaine), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months, commencing on 1 November 2025 and ending on 30 April 2027.

(2) On count 2 (CAN 3185/2023, trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis, namely methamphetamine and methylone), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months, commencing on 1 September 2026 and ending on 29 February 2028.

(3) On count 4 (CAN 3186/2023, trafficking in a trafficable quantity of cannabis), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 14 months, commencing on 1 September 2027 and ending on 31 October 2028.

(4) On count 5 (CAN 3188/2023, money-laundering), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months, commencing on 1 June 2028 and ending on 31 May 2029.

(5) Each of the sentences is to be served by intensive correction in the community, with a condition that the offender perform a total of 160 hours of community service within 18 months.

I certify that the preceding forty-four [44] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Justice Mossop.