By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A former painter and decorator has pleaded guilty to being equipped for an ‘ice’ clan lab in his Beaconsfield home nearly three years ago.
Kristian Joel Tyers, 46, now living in Officer, was spared jail at the County Court of Victoria on 9 February for possessing materials and equipment for drug trafficking.
Police raided his home at dawn on 5 March 2019.
They seized 40 items, including an array of scientific beakers, other glassware and lab-ware such as air-purifying respirator, heaters, retort stands and foam beads that were allegedly for cooking meth.
More than 120 grams of a meth-containing mixture was seized in a condenser, bags and containers.
Much of it was of low purity, suggesting it was “cut” rather than “cooked”, judge Nola Karapanagiotidis noted.
Also seized was up to 520 grams of substances, including iodine – potentially used as a pre-cursor for meth-making.
However, other key chemicals required to create ‘ice’ were not found in the house.
Two ninja sai daggers – which Tyers argued were “ornamental” only – were also found in a walk-in wardrobe.
In a police interview, the then-unemployed Tyers denied making drugs but wasn’t “entirely upfront and “frank”, Judge Karapanagiotidis said.
He did admit that he had been “in the (drugs) game” for years, and using drugs to self-soothe his stress, depression and anxiety.
Prosecution submitted for a jail term followed by a community corrections order (CCO), Tyers’ lawyer argued for a CCO only.
Judge Karapanagiotidis said the offence was “serious” but it was unusual for police to seize such low quantities during such a drug raid.
The sentence should also generally deter others. Manufacturing and distributing drugs such as meth caused great harm to the community, Judge Karapanagiotidis said.
Tyers’ rehabilitation prospects were considered “good”. His early guilty plea, court delays due to Covid and lack of offending while on bail for three years were noted in his favour.
His relevant past drug offences, including cannabis growing, dated more than 10 years.
Tyers, who was in cancer remission, intended to seek help for his drug addiction and to restart his business.
He had never had the opportunity to reform on a CCO, the judge noted.
Tyers was sentenced to a two-year supervised CCO combining punishment and treatment.
It included 250 hours of unpaid work as well as drug and mental health therapy.
