Man caught with stash of drugs

A 53-year-old Greytown man caught with methamphetamine, the mind-altering drug Fantasy and a large amount of prescription medication hidden in a flax bush in his back garden has been sentenced to community work.

Geoffrey Owen Alistair Kingi, unemployed, pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of GBL (Fantasy), methamphetamine and the prescription drugs diazepam, zopiclone, oxycontin, oxynorm and buspirone, when he appeared before Judge Tom Broadmore in the Masterton District Court yesterday.

Police prosecutor Garry Wilson told the court police executed a search warrant on Kingi's Greytown home on June 11.

Searching the property, they found an army-style ammunition box hidden in a flax bush in the back yard with 1.2g of the Class A drug methamphetamine in a small snap-lock bag, along with the large amount of prescription drugs.

On a set of drawers in Kingi's bedroom they found a small amber screw-top bottle with 15ml of the Class B drug GBL (Fantasy) inside.

Mr Wilson said that, when spoken to by police, Kingi stated the drugs were his.

"He said it was for personal use but didn't have a prescription," he said.

Defence lawyer Ian Hard told the court his client had not been before the courts for many years and was trying to break free of his addictions.

"He's a mature man, trying to make a better life for himself. He wants to get on with his life ... he has grown older and wiser," Mr Hard said.

He appealed to the court to give his client a fine.

"He deserves a fine. This offending is not as serious as his past drug offending."

Judge Broadmore told Kingi his past offending was "dreadful" but a mitigating feature was past offending dated back nearly seven years. He sentenced Kingi to 80 hours' community work.