A man who stored methylamphetamine worth up to $44,000 for associates has been jailed for 15 months, just weeks after finishing a sentence for possessing an illegal shotgun.
Matthew Upston, 40, was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania last month after pleading guilty to trafficking.
Police raided the Youngtown home Upston shared with his mother and her partner in January 2024, finding 44 grams of meth in his bedroom along with $3,300 cash.
The court heard Upston agreed to store the drugs after his associates were threatened over a drug debt.
Justice Robert Pearce said Upston knew the drugs were destined for sale.
“You were helping to facilitate the release of illicit drugs into the market and were part of the distribution network,” he said.
It was not Upston’s first trafficking offence.
In 2017, he was convicted of almost identical conduct and received 15 months in jail with nine months suspended on appeal.
Justice Pearce said previous sentences had failed to deter him.
“The offence for which I am now to sentence you was committed just over three weeks [after release],” he said.
The court heard Upston had a lengthy criminal history spanning drug offences, illegal firearms and serious family violence.
Justice Pearce considered a drug treatment order but accepted a report finding Upston unsuitable.
“I do not see that you have demonstrated sufficient resolve to comply with the onerous terms of a drug treatment order,” he said.
“I have concluded that a term of imprisonment is the only appropriate sentence. I see no occasion to suspend any part of it.”
Upston will be eligible for parole after eight months, with his sentence backdated to October 2025 to account for time served.
