But Ronald Kenneth Ramsay will be given a 25 per cent discount for pleading guilty after the court heard he had been languishing in a prison cell for 18 months and no solicitor had taken him through his brief of evidence.

Tamworth District Court heard Ramsay had difficulty reading and had not seen the evidence against him until only recently.

Ramsay, who was supported by his wife in court, was softly spoken when he replied “guilty” to five charges, namely that he supplied more than 500g of methylamphetamine which is not less than a large commercial quantity.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing a semi-automatic pistol on September 8, 2015, at the Glenara Ln, Bithramere house when police, including the Tamworth Target Action Group (TAG), Oxley detectives, rural crime investigators and uniformed officers, raided the property.

Ramsay was arrested on the day of the police raid and has been in custody since.

He admitted to possessing a Winchester .22 rifle as well as a lever-action .22 rifle on the day of the police raid at the Bithramere property.

Ramsay also pleaded guilty to possessing two firearm silencers which are prohibited weapons in NSW.

Six other offences will be taken into account when Ramsay is sentenced in the district court.

The NSW government changed the laws around the supply of ice just eight days before his arrest meaning Ramsay faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Judge Jeffery McLennan said despite the “very late plea” of guilty, he had “very clear” views that Ramsay was entitled to a full discount.

“I was particularly disturbed to learn that Mr Ramsay had been sitting out there on remand for 18 months … and no one had taken him through the brief … which he was clearly incapable of doing himself,” he said.

“Mr Ramsay deserves to have his matter dealt with expeditiously now the guilty plea has been entered.”

Solicitor Yvonne Phillipos, who has recently taken over Ramsay's case, asked for the matter to be adjourned to gather specialist medical evidence after she “finally received Legal Aid funding for a psychologist” report.

“They were very apologetic that it had not occurred,” she told the court of the delays. 

Judge McLennan granted the adjournment to allow the specialist medical report to be compiled.

He also ordered a pre-sentence report be prepared by correctives’ authorities to examine Ramsay’s background ahead of sentencing.

Ramsay was refused bail and will be sentenced in May.

Editor’s note: This story was amended to make it clear that Ramsay's solicitor, Yvonne Phillipos, has only recently taken on his case.