R v Haygarth [1995] QCA 403

The applicant was 27 years old when he committed these offences. He is a married man who was not lawfully employed then. He had been convicted of a number of offences, in relation to all of which he was fined, in Magistrates Courts before his conviction of these offences: in 1984 he was convicted of possession of a prohibited plant, possession of a pipe used in connexion with smoking a dangerous drug, and using obscene language; in 1985 of being in possession of property suspected of being stolen; and in 1986 of assault occasioning bodily harm. He has a de facto wife who has borne him two children, who were born in 1991 and 1993.

The applicant had an unhappy early life. His parents separated when he was three years old. His father was a violent man. He had two brothers who died in road incidents when they were adversely affected by drugs. He was sexually molested when he was very young. A brother introduced him to drugs before he was 12 years old. He became addicted to drugs. For three months before he was sentenced he had been receiving counselling about drugs and alcohol at the Community Health Centre in Gladstone.