A MOUNT Gambier man will spend at least two years and six months behind bars after being sentenced for drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Mark Charles Tippins, 28, appeared in the Adelaide District Court on Thursday to be sentenced for three charges of trafficking in amphetamine and one charge of possessing a firearm without a licence.
The circumstances relating to the drugs charges began on May 12, 2016, when Tippins sold .15g of amphetamine for $100 to undercover police.
On May 26, 2016, there was a similar sale of .9g for a further $100.
The third count related to the discovery of 7.93g of amphetamine in Tippins’ unit on Penola Road on June 15, 2016.
Police also found a number of deal bags, scales, an ice pipe, a taser, a mobile phone and four notebooks containing a tick list.
Tippins was also found in possession of $300 cash.
Judge Sydney Tilmouth said the charges were representative of a background of trading, proven by associated text messages that Tippins was in the business of low-level dealing.
The firearm was a double-barrelled class A shotgun found disassembled in a carry case behind a wardrobe in the defendant’s room.
Nearby was a box containing 12g of ammunition, compatible with a shotgun which was found to be in good working condition.
“This becomes a serious firearms offence if it is proven the possession of the firearm ‘occurred in the course of or was for a purpose related to the commission of a serious drug offence’,” Judge Tilmouth said.
“You had a taser at hand in any event for that purpose, so that in those circumstances it is not proved beyond reasonable doubt that you held the firearm for a purpose relating to trading in drugs.”
Despite this, Tippins was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for the possession of the firearm.
He was further sentenced to three years, three months and three weeks for the drug trafficking charges.
“You are sentenced on the basis that you were a short-term street dealer involving multiple transactions,” Judge Tilmouth said.
A non-parole period of two years and six months was set on the head sentence of four years and three weeks.
The sentence was backdated to commence on June 16, 2016, when the defendant was taken into custody.
“The offences are simply too serious to justify suspension or home detention disposition,” Judge Tilmouth said.
