A man who was shot in the groin during a violent home invasion of his Kings Meadows unit in March has been sentenced to 15-months home detention for drug trafficking.
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Damien Neil Smart, 45, of Norwood, was sentenced in the Supreme Court in Launceston after pleading guilty to trafficking $7235 of methylamphetamine over two weeks in October 2019.
He was subject to a community service order at the time of the offending.
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The court heard that in a raid police seized 25.5 grams of methylamphetamine, 18.2 grams of cannabis, three MDMA pills, seven Diazepam tablets and scales.
Smart's mobile phone also contained messages relating to 47 buyers and his bank statement included daily transfers from individuals for the purchase of drugs.
Over a fortnight just before his arrest, Smart received $7235 in bank transfers for drugs, while he also accepted cash payments which could not be tracked.
He was arrested and bailed, and on March 11, 2020, he became the victim of a home invasion at his Guy Street unit.
Two individuals wearing balaclavas and armed with firearms kicked in his front door at 2am.
Smart was awake at the time and a scuffle started during which he was shot in the groin.
He woke up in hospital but did not want to pursue charges out of fear of retribution.
Enforced abstinence in hospital helped him cut drug use.
Justice Pearce said messages on his mobile phone showed that Smart was frequently contacted by people wanting to purchase drugs.
"There was no submission that the two-week period was isolated or out of character," he said.
He said Smart had lost his job as a building trades assistant after his drug use got out of control in 2017.
Smart's methylamphetamine addiction cost him about $300 a day and he was smoking about $100 worth of cannabis a day.
He started trafficking to pay for the cost of his consumption.
Justice Pearce said he had since moved home to his parents' home in Norwood and had remained abstinent from methylamphetamine.
The $7235 made from trafficking was forfeited to the state.
He was found suitable for home detention despite a plea hearing being told that he had helped drug buyers get around their home detention orders by delivering them drugs.
Justice Pearce said prison would be the inevitable outcome if Smart breached the terms of the order.
He ordered that Smart be fitted with an electronic monitoring device and refrain from the use of illicit drugs.