Truckie spared jail after admitting to meth run

A Geraldton truck driver has received a suspended jail term after admitting in court he was acting as a drug courier when he brought methamphetamine from Perth to Geraldton in his work vehicle. Wayne Gregory Price was stopped by police on Brand Highway at 4.45pm on February 6 last year, when his vehicle was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act. In an open bag of crackers in the centre console and hidden under a mattress behind the driver’s seat, police found four clip seal bags containing 3.42g of the drug. He was then charged with possession with intent to sell or supply. The 55-year-old reappeared in Geraldton Magistrate’s Court on Thursday where he changed his plea of not guilty to guilty for the offence. His lawyer Eva Svanburg said at the time he had been going through a rough patch and began using again to cope. “He was buying it to support his own habit,” she said. “The arrangement was to supply it to a friend and he would get a portion as payment. “He hasn’t been using since this traffic stop.” But police prosecutor Acting Sgt Paul White told the court it was concerning he used his role as a truck driver to bring methamphetamine into the city. Magistrate Chris Miocevich agreed, saying the offence was aggravated because he “abused his job to supply drugs”. “Methamphetamine is a scourge on our society,” he said. “People commit numerous offences either to fund their habit or because they were on it and this court sees that on a daily basis.” Price was given an eight-month term of imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. “This is a term of imprisonment,” Mr Miocevich said. “If you commit any offen-ces punishable by imprisonment over the next year you will be jailed.”