A Brisbane man who tried to smuggle drugs concealed in his underwear into prison for his brother has received a suspended jail sentence.
Jakob Blakemore was given a dressing down recently by Judge Farr SC in the District Court in Brisbane, after pleading guilty to one count of supplying a dangerous with a circumstance of aggravation (supply to a person within a correctional institution).
On 5 March last year, Blakemore, then 21, was detected carrying 101 suboxone strips hidden in his underwear in four separate sleeves, into a Queensland prison. The strips contained almost five grams of the opioid buprenorphine.
Judge Farr said Blakemore bowed to pressure from his brother, who was serving an eight-year sentence for drug-related offending at the prison.
He said it was clear at least some of the drug was intended to be sold by the brother.
“Taking illicit drugs into a correctional institution with the intention of supplying them to a prisoner is considered to be extraordinarily serious criminal behaviour,” he said.
“Drugs in prison constitute an immense problem. Many prisoners are in prison because of drugs and drug-related offending, and the courts frequently see people who have an opportunity to become drug-free as a consequence of being in custody for some period of time.
“Introducing illicit substances into prison, therefore, has the very real potential of undermining the rehabilitative effect of a correctional institution.
“It also, of course, means that you would have prisoners that are drug-affected, which, in turn, has the very real potential of adversely impacting the security of the prison, the behaviour of the prisoners concerned and puts those in the prison setting, both prisoners and prison officers, at some degree of heightened risk.
“All in all, it potentially adversely affects the good order of the correctional institution and, for that reason, needs to be recognised by appropriate sentencing that gives proper recognition to considerations such as general deterrence.”
Judge Farr considered factors such as Blakemore’s age, the fact he had no prior convictions, that he was remorseful, and that he was under pressure from his brother.
“But you did commit this offence, and the commission of this offence effectively meant that you had time to think about it, then you had to act upon it by obtaining possession of the drug in question, then you had to travel to the prison, and then you took the step of entering that prison knowing that you were smuggling illicit drugs into it,” he said.
“You had ample opportunity to reconsider what you were going to do, and you placed your loyalty and/or your brother’s wishes over that of your common sense and what you knew the law to be. So this was not a matter that you did with your eyes closed.”
Judge Farr ordered the nine-month sentence be suspended with a 12-month operation period.
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