A north-west Tasmanian man who pocketed more than $40,000 from selling ice has been jailed after continuing to traffic methylamphetamine while on bail for earlier drug offences.
David McGrath Smith, 38, was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment in the Supreme Court of Tasmania last month, with the final 12 months suspended.
The court heard Smith began dealing ice within days of walking out of prison in September 2021.
At first, he worked as a middleman for another trafficker before taking over the customer base and running the operation himself.
Over the next 15 months, Smith built what Justice Tamara Jago described as a “mid-range trafficking business”, with regular customers across northern Tasmania.
Police raided his home several times, seizing drugs, scales and smoking equipment – but Smith kept selling.
“A significantly aggravating factor is that you commenced trafficking in methylamphetamine shortly after being released from serving a sentence of imprisonment and you continued to traffic in methyl amphetamine despite the police searches and despite being on bail for the earlier portion of the offending,” she said.
“That is reflective of the depth of your addiction but is also reflective of an arrogant disregard for the law.”
Bank records revealed Smith received about $43,000 in deposits consistent with drug sales between September 2021 and July 2022.
While some of the drugs funded his own habit, the court found he was also trafficking for profit.
Smith’s lawyer told the court his client had made progress since being released on bail in August 2023, remaining drug-free, finding steady work and moving in with his parents.
But Justice Jago said his late guilty plea, lodged only after prosecutors filed trial papers in August this year, showed little genuine remorse.
“The plea of guilty should be seen, given the strong case based on your own admissions, as something of a bowing to the inevitable and it carries little mitigatory weight in the sentencing exercise,” she said.
Smith must serve at least six months before being eligible for parole. He was also ordered to pay a $43,000 penalty.
