'P' pharmacist Pulman jailed for five years

The chemist where Pulman worked. Photo / Richard Robinson

A pillar of the Pukekohe community has been jailed for five years and eight months after supplying restricted cold medicine which he knew would be turned into P.

Samuel Ross Pulman in May pleaded guilty to a representative charge of manufacturing methamphetamine after being netted by an undercover police operation.

Pulman worked as a pharmacist in Pukekohe, and in his spare time organised the youth table tennis evenings and sold vegetables to fundraise for his youth centre.

But the 70-year-old pharmacist admitted selling 1291 boxes of cold medicine containing the P precursor drug pseudoephedrine.

Sentencing him at the High Court in Auckland this morning, Judge Edwin Wylie acknowledged Pulman's work in the community, particularly for youth.

"You have done much for the community in the past and I trust that while you're in custody you will reflect on the harm that your offending has caused."

He said the police had calculated the amount of pseudoephedrine that Pulman sold was estimated to have produced between 750g and 1.1kg of methamphetamine, depending on the methods used by the P cooks.

The estimated street value of that amount of methamphetamine is up to $1.1m.

The case was a confusing one with both the Crown and defence struggling to explain why Pulman sold cold medicine containing the P precursor pseudoephedrine to a drug ring.

"I suspect you were naive and placed under pressure. Your offending snowballed and you could not say no," Justice Wylie said today.

However, he said P created huge damage in the community and Pulman's own offending would have "caused significant harm".

Justice Wylie said a starting point of 10 years imprisonment was appropriate but gave significant discounts for Pulman's work in the community, clean record and age.

Crown prosecutor Bruce Northwood said between 2005 and 2007, Pulman sold large quantities of the restricted cold medicine without recording names or identification of the buyers and would open the pharmacy over one and a half hours early.

"He was known to people as 'uncle' and the Crown submits that evidence suggests he was the 'go to person' if you wanted pseudoephedrine - and they kept coming back for more."

He said police had evidence that P manufacturers from Franklin, northern Waikato and even one from Hamilton would send pill shoppers to Pulman's pharmacy.

"He knew what he was doing was harmful to others."

Mr Northwood said the Crown's term of imprisonment started at between 10 and 12 years because the courts had to send a "sharply clear message" to pharmacists not to sell precursor drugs to P cooks or methamphetamine manufacturers.

Pulman's lawyer, Stuart Grieve QC, said there were "obvious incongruities and inconsistencies" with Pulman's offending.

He said if the full term of imprisonment was applied Pulman would die in prison.

Mr Grieve QC said Pulman maintained that he was asked to sell the medicine by police so police could arrest more people in the methamphetamine scene.

He said Pulman was aware of police surveillance cameras at the pharmacy but continued to sell the restricted drugs.

"It suggests to me there is no logic to it."

Justice Wylie responded: "Or Mr Pulman was looking for a way out."

Mr Grieve QC said his client maintained he had made no money out of the deals and that the $100 cash paid by the pill shoppers was used by pharmacy management to pay wages.

At a disputed facts hearing last month, the Crown was unable to prove conclusively that Pulman had made money from the transactions.

A number of character references were received by the court in Pulman's favour, including a former police inspector who spoke of Pulman as a passionate man who worked for the community and in particular for youth.

Disputed facts

Pill shoppers would go to the pharmacy before 8am and pay Pulman up to $100 cash for a box of the medicine, which retailed for about $30.

At a disputed-facts hearing last month, Pulman said he thought he had been "helping police and the community" by selling cold medicine he knew would be turned into P.

Pulman said his community constable had asked him to continue selling the drugs so police could "spread the net and clear up the area".

"I felt that I was helping police and the community in continuing to sell these items," Pulman told the court.

But in his determination, Justice Wylie rubbished that idea.

He said community constable Noel Surrey denied asking Pulman to sell the cold medicine at a meeting in 2007.

"If Mr Pulman genuinely thought he was selling the drugs under instructions from the police, it seems to me extraordinary that he did not contact the police and discuss the situation with them. His explanation that he was too busy to do so - over a period of years - is in my opinion implausible," Justice Wylie said.

He also said Pulman "did not strike me as an honest witness".

But Justice Wylie found the Crown was unable to prove Pulman made money selling the medicine, despite making $90,000.

Pulman has previously told the court he would put the cash in a box, to be banked with the business takings.

Justice Wylie said Pulman's employers did not notice any discrepancy between the cash banked and the amount of product sold.

"Nor did they assert that Mr Pulman was taking cash from the cash box," Justice Wylie said.

"While I consider that it is unlikely that Mr Pulman obtained no financial benefit from the transactions, I am mindful of the onus of proof contained in [the Sentencing Act]," he said.

THE SCAM

* 1290 boxes of cold medicine - all sold before the pharmacy opened at 8am.

* $100 a box - price to gangs making P.

* $30 a box - price to a normal buyer.

* $90,000 profit - to pharmacist Samuel Ross Pulman.