Two jailed for importing drug

Press, 31 August 1989, Page 18

Two jailed for importing drug

PA Auckland Two Greenlane men were each imprisoned for 10 years yesterday for importing $1 million worth of heroin for suppiy. Abdul Rashid, aged 40, an Indian retailer, was sentenced to 10 years for importing, eight years for possession and four years for attempting to supply the class A drug. Krishna Bal, aged 39, was sentenced to 10 years for importing and eight for possession for supply. All sentences were concurrent. A third man, Neville William Waldock, aged 49, of Herne Bay, was sentenced to 30 months for attempting to supply. After hearing from lawyers that Rashid and

Bal were basically hardworking, honest men whose families would suffer if prison terms were imposed, Mr Justice Thorp said personal records were of no account. He said in this type of offence, personal circumstances of offenders were given less substance. "The good personal records you both have don’t have significance on the type of sentence I intend to impose,” he said. Mr Justice Thorp said Waldock had not helped his case by refusing to identify the “friend” for whom he had bought the ounce of heroin. He accepted that Waldock was a first offender and his culpability was much less than that of Rashid and Bal.