Drug courier jailed

Press, 30 July 1980, Page 4

Drug courier jailed

• A drug courier, who was l found by the police in a city' motel with a suitcase con-! tairiihg 3000 cannabis sticks! worth $45,000 on the street,' was jailed for two years and; nine months by Mr Justice! ;Somers in the High Court; yesterday. ' j The courier, Noel Alan! Wright, aged 28, had pleadedguilty in the District Court! to possession of cannabis for' supply on June 25. ! The police statement said! that the suitcase containing! the cannabis was found! under a- bed in the city! motel. There was no-one in the motel at the time and the police waited for Wright to return. They waited a few moments and when they entered Wright was found kneeling on the floor after having pulled the suitcase out from under the bed. Mr G. D. Horne, for Wright, said that the cannabis haul weighed a total of 4.9 kilograms, but one quarter of that was the!

■ weight of the bamboo sticks 'which it was wound around. j Because he feared for hisi (safety and that of his girl-i 'friend, Wright had not dis-' ■closed the persons he had (been working for. He was i approached in Auckland to {take 1000 cannabis sticks to (Christchurch and to hand it {over to a person who would; 'make contact with him. [ Tickets were purchased! I for him and at the last mo-j Iment as he was about toi 'board a train in Auckland he' was told that the number of] 1 sticks had been increased to' {3OOO. Wright was concerned at the quantity but felt at that stage it was too late to back out. Originally he was to be paid $lOOO for the job but the fee was increased because of the additional sticks, Mr Horne said. Wright maintained that he had never before acted as a drug courier. That was supported by the officer in 'charge of the case, who said

that Wright had acted in a nervous and erratic manner. It was also borne out by the fact that he had few- assets.

When Wright was aged 13 his mother was admitted to hospital for major surgery and from that time on there was an increasing hostility between himself and his father because of his father’s alleged materialism. Wright deliberately set out to adopt a different lifestyle from that of his father.

Wright came from a good background and his parents now lived in Sydney. He was intelligent and had worked as a book-keeper and in a managerial capac■JY- Although unorthodox in his lifestyle he had always supported himself and had earned a living by tasks such as selling simple handmade jewellery and as an entertainer. He was a gentle person with strong interests tn music and religion. For the last year he had had a close association with

a young woman whom he planned to marry. That relationship had led to a marked change in his outlook and he wanted to build up a sound financial basis for his marriage. At last he . was adopting those standards which he so. despised in his father. Wright had been described as a person of excellent character and integrity. He had only acted as a courier! and not as a dealer who had! a financial stake in the drug.) He had shown remorse, had; pleaded guilty and was ai first offender. A deterrent!

sentence was not called for, Mr Horne said.

His Honour said that Wright had embarked on the enterprise to obtain money, ft was clear from the testi-l monials and the probation! report that Wright was al person of considerable in-1 telligence and character. I “But in this class of case! personal characteristics have' to give way to the public' interest and the need to! stamp out the pernicious' drug trade. The sentence must reflect the views of Parliament, which recently provided for a heavier scale of penalties,” his Honour said.

The quantitj 7 and value of the drug were large and he accepted that Wright was only acting as a courier, but a courier was an important link in the chain for the distribution of drugs. He would take into account that Wright had already spent five weeks in custody, said his Honour.