A Hobart man who sold methylamphetamine daily over two months has escaped immediate imprisonment after a judge praised his rehabilitation efforts.
Shane Eric Jackman was handed an 18-month suspended sentence this week for trafficking ice worth about $56,000 between September and November 2023.
Supreme Court Acting Justice Marshall said Jackman’s “efforts at rehabilitation have been commendable and he appears to be turning his life around”, noting he had been drug-free for about a year.
“Mr Jackman deserves another chance,” Acting Justice Marshall said. “It is hoped that he will embrace that chance and that he will not resort to the previous conduct that found him in the position of being liable to being imprisoned.”
The court heard Jackman was forced to sell drugs to pay off debts to suppliers who pressured him to continue trafficking.
The court heard Jackman had been selling between half an ounce to an ounce of ice per day during the two-month period, described by the judge as “spreading a pernicious drug” throughout Tasmania.
Despite the scale of the operation, Acting Justice Marshall declined to activate a previous suspended sentence from 2022 for causing grievous bodily harm, ruling the circumstances were “considerably different”.
The father of five has since relocated to northern Tasmania to escape his former lifestyle and criminal associates.
He is now caring for his partner, who was recently diagnosed with a neurological disorder and is applying to become her legal carer.
The sentence includes a 12-month community corrections order requiring drug testing, supervision and participation in addiction programmes.
Acting Justice Marshall warned that “any further offending of this nature will almost certainly lead to a sentence of actual imprisonment”.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of $4,000 in cash proceeds and drug-related items seized during the investigation.
