A TAMWORTH man has been banned from taking drugs for 18 months and will serve out his jail term in the community for supplying the drug, ecstasy.
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Nicholas Hansen won’t spend a day behind bars for dealing 17.5g of MDMA in Tamworth in 2017 after being sentenced on Friday afternoon.
Appearing via video link from Armidale District Court, Judge Jeffery McLennan handed Hansen an 18-month intensive corrections order (ICO) or a jail sentence in the community.
As part of the sentence, Hansen will be supervised by authorities and must not commit any offences, but Judge McLennan made an additional condition that he is to abstain from drugs for the period of the ICO, or face jail.
Earlier this month, the court heard Hansen bought 17.5g of amphetamine from co-offender Mark John McDonald and “some of it” was going to be supplied.
McDonald was the main target of Strike Force Kotza – the operation by Oxley detectives to disrupt the supply of drugs like cocaine and MDMA in Tamworth – before officers homed in on Hansen, arresting him in February.
Previously, Judge McLennan said the amount of MDMA deemed for supply by Hansen was “not a minor matter” and warned that if Hansen breached the drug abstinence condition of the order, “someone’s likely to come knocking on your door”.
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On Thursday, McDonald was jailed for four years for three counts of supplying drugs including MDMA and cocaine, as well as dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The court heard detailed conversations between McDonald and Hansen during the drug deals, including one exchange in November 2017 when Hansen said “the next f****** month was going to be solid” before they discussed the amount of ecstasy to be supplied.
In a complex investigation, police watched McDonald for months and searched his Calala home using a secret search warrant to take samples of drugs stashed in kitchen cupboards or the bedroom wardrobe.
After time served, McDonald will be first eligible for parole in December 2019.
Breanna Chillingworth
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
