Stephen James Williams found guilty of trafficking in a controlled substance

Stephen James Williams, a 41-year-old man was on trial in the Supreme Court in Launceston on the charge of trafficking in a controlled substance. The jury found Williams guilty of the charge.

Throughout the course of July 1, 2017 to November 13, 2019, Tasmania police would seize a commercial quantity of controlled drugs in properties at the Kings Meadows Hotel, Killafaddy and Lloyds Hotel.

Russel Peter Hayworth, a 36-year-old man was also on trial for the same charge, however, he was found not guilty by the jury.

Detective Senior Sergeant Matthew Shea explained the difference between individuals who would use drugs, and drug dealers who would sell drugs on a commercial scale during the trial.

He said that heroin users would use .1 of a gram, which would cost about $100, and that one gram would cost about $500. He told the court that an eight ball (3.5 grams) would amount to $1000-$1200 and that an ounce (28 grams) would cost about $5500 and that ounces would be sold on a commercial level.

In relation to methylamphetamine, he said one gram would be equivalent to $500, and an eight ball would be around $1000-$12000. He said that when the drug was sold in ounces, the price would differ compared to heroin, and that meth would sell for $8000 an ounce.

Detective Senior Sergeant Matthew Shea said MDMA and MDA capsules would sell for $250-$300 for a pack of 10 and that a pack of 50 would cost $850. He said that 100 capsules would cost around $1000-$1300.

In 2016, Williams, alongside a business partner, opened up a motorbike shed in Killafaddy, and in May 2017, Williams would go on to meet Hayworth in the industrial complex.

Williams said he was first introduced to Hayworth when he brought his motorbike in to undergo maintenance. He told the court that Hayworth initially paid him with the drug, ice, and would continue to pay him in drugs when he carried out work on Hayworth's vehicle.

"I would be eager to do work because at the end of it, I would get paid in drugs," Williams told the court. He said he had been supplied with the drug seven or eight times and began to develop an addiction.

Hayworth, who represented himself in court, refuted William's allegations, and denied ever supplying anyone with illicit drugs. "It was not a relationship like that at all," Hayworth said.

"I had never given him or anyone else any other drug. I was into fitness, it was not something I was interested in. I thought life was hard enough," he said.

On July 1, 2017, police would find 108 grams of heroin, 62 grams of MDMA and 34.5 grams of ice in a room at the Kings Meadows Hotel. The raid uncovered a toiletries bag and a backpack which contained a black, hard case containing heroin, MDMA, and ice and drug paraphernalia.

Williams said that on July 1, 2017, Hayworth had asked him to carry out a task that involved collecting model cars and a fridge from Killafaddy and was given two pairs of keys. He told the court that one pair of keys belonged to the room in Kings Meadows, and that the other pair of keys were to undo the shed in Killafaddy.

The court was told that Williams rang a man named Stuart Burgoine to give him a lift to Killafaddy and collected the items.

On their way back from Killafaddy, Williams and Burgoine were intercepted by police. Within the vehicle, a .22 Smith and Wesson was present and police also found keys which belonged to the room in Killafaddy. Williams strongly denied to the court that the gun in the vehicle belonged to him, despite Burgoine's evidence in court that Burgoine would pay him $50,000 to take the full consequences.

Crown prosecutor Ian Arendt said that it was accepted that drug dealers would carry a weapon on them for safety assurances, which further enhanced the conclusions from prosecutions that Williams was trafficking in a controlled substance.

Police would use the key that was found on Williams to conduct a search of room nine at the Kings Meadows Hotel sometime later that night. Prior to the raid, the court was shown CCTV footage of Hayworth entering the Kings Meadows Hotel and asking for directions to room nine on July 1, 2017.

Hayworth said that he had been asked to drop some items into the Kings Meadows Hotel by Burgoine and was seen carrying a backpack, which contained a black box and told the court that the items he brought into the room did not contain any drugs.

In the CCTV footage, Hayworth was seen to be carrying an item which could not be made out, but was speculated by the Crown to be the toiletries bag.

Hayworth said he was asked to drop a backpack in room nine at the Kings Meadows Hotel and said the task seemed to be "dodgy".

Hayworth told the court that due to his background in security, there was "no way I would have handled anything drug related, especially at a venue with cameras". It is not suggested that Hayworth brought drugs into the room at the Kings Meadows Hotel.

Another man was also seen entering the Kings Meadows Hotel after Hayworth had left the premises. The man was wearing a cap and was unable to be accurately identified.

Prosecutors alleged that the man shown on the CCTV footage was Williams and Hayworth told the court that the man could have been Williams and that he had similar characteristics to the man shown in the footage.

On July 5, 2017, police conducted a search at the house of Willliams', then girlfriend, Carly Dekkers in their home in Newstead. Within their search, police found $13,200 worth of cash.

Trudy Dekkers, Carly's mother, gave evidence within the court to say that the money was not from drug sales and that it had been accumulated as a result of her gambling.

She said that when she was questioned by police about the source of the money, she failed to tell them that she had been gambling and declared bankruptcy because she was embarrassed.

Carly Dekkers also gave evidence to the court and was questioned in relation to large amounts of cash withdrawals that were made from her account.

The court was told that she had deposited $28,000 in one month. Crown prosecutions said that the money that she had withdrawn was either withdrawn by Williams, or was Williams' money.

Financial documents revealed that Carly Dekkers had withdrawn $12,600 from an account in July 2018, $10,900 in January 2019, $12,800 in March 2019, $28,000 in April 2019, and $15,700 in May 2019.

Carly Dekkers said the large amounts of money withdrawn from her accounts were from her mother and grandmother giving her money.

On July 12, 2018 a shed at Killafaddy containing a substantial amount of drugs was seized by Tasmania Police following a raid. Heroin, MDA, methylamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis were found to be at the premises.

As part of the raids at Killafaddy, police would find 800 capsules of MDMA, 53 grams of heroin, and 37.2 grams of meth.

Hayworth, who was found not guilty, denied having any involvement in the location of the drugs and Williams also claimed innocence, despite being arrested in relation to the crime. Crown prosecutions put it to Williams that he had asked Hayworth to conceal drugs for him at Killafaddy.

Crown prosecutions said the drugs that were found at Killafaddy were similar to the drugs that had been found at the Kings Meadows Hotel.

Hayworth, who said he had spent some time at Killafaddy because at times he wanted to be alone, said he had seen people doing drugs in the area at the time he was there. "I would stay there for long periods of time and get away and do my own thing," Hayworth said.

He said that he was not present at the time of the search on July 12, 2018 and that he had been informed by a friend that the area had been raided by police. "There was definitely no indication, or anything made to me that drugs had been involved in the search. It would have been days or a week later when I went down there" he said.

Prosecutions suggested that because Hayworth who had lived in Killafaddy, knew the area off the back of his head, and had hid drugs in the area for Williams.

Hayworth told the court that the drugs were found next to his shed, and did not belong to him. "It had nothing to do with me, it was completely separate," he said.

No DNA evidence was presented in court that was able to link Williams to any of the drugs in Killafaddy, however, the Crown asserted that because Williams knew police were onto him, he would wipe DNA evidence.

After the raids at Killafaddy, Williams said he wanted to look at moving into a different industry and established a plan to sell the bike shop.

He said he had eight to 10 bikes that were ready for sale, and as a result, he sold the business. Williams told the court he had managed to gain $25,000 as a result of the sale of his business and motorbikes.

Williams said he engaged in a conversation with his ex-girlfriend's mother, Trudy Dekkers about the possibility of taking over the lease for Empire 44, which at the time was known as MODE.

Wiliams said the original owner of the nightclub had been planning to move to Western Australia to be closer to family and was looking at selling the club for around $40,000.

He said that in order to get the required funds to take over the lease, he asked his dad to borrow $40k in cash. Williams told the court that the previous owner had some legal issues that needed to be taken care of before she could finalise the sale of the business.

"What we didn't know at the time was that she had issues with the liquor licence," Williams said.

He said he paid the previous owner $20,000 and would pay the rest of the money later on once the previous owner had sorted out her issues.

In February 2019, Williams took ownership of Empire 44 for a short period of seven to eight weeks before it was closed down due to liquor licensing issues and told the court he would make around $5000 per week.

While he was in charge of the nightclub, Williams said a number of famous musicians performed in the complex and that they had a major star in Mercules who was set to perform at Empire 44.

However, due to the club closing as a result of the liquor licence expiring, they desperately needed to find a new venue.

Looking to find another venue, Williams said a friend of his recommended hosting the Mercules concert in Lloyds Hotel, (now known as the Sports Garden Hotel).

Crown prosecutions said Wiliams paid $10,000 cash to Peter Dixon, the owner of Lloyds Hotel, to cover rent arrears on behalf of Lloyds' licensee James Napier and that he wanted to establish a nightclub licence at Lloyds because he was having problems getting a licence at Empire 44 in York St.

After establishing a presence in LLoyds, Williams would bring staff across from Empire 44, which included Jordyn Fenton, a bar manager. Williams transported a number of items from Empire 44 into Lloyds which included equipment and alcohol.

Crown prosecutions said November 13, 2019, the day of the raid of Lloyds Hotel, was significant because on October 22, an argument broke out between the leaseholder of Lloyd's hotel and Williams, where the leaseholder walked out.

Mr Arendt said it was of significance because the lease was still being paid and suggested that Williams wanted to gain possession of Lloyds Hotel.

Williams said he started to take greater control of Lloyds and began renovating the area and wanted to improve the establishment, describing it as a "big job". He told the courts he was there renovating, cleaning, evicting tenants, and also had a hand in finances.

On November 13, 2019 around midday police raided Lloyds Hotel. Police would find a number of drugs and paraphernalia as part of a search. The search unveiled commercial amounts of methamphetamine, with quantities equating to just over 100 grams, as well as 5.6 grams of MDMA contained in pills.

Williams was arrested and cautioned and taken back to the police station. Afterwards a search of Jordy Fenton's house in Mowbray revealed $122k worth of cash in a backpack.

Ms Fenton, who appeared as a witness in the trial, said Williams asked her to take a backpack home and look after it.

She told the court she would take the backpack home three times a week and Williams would give it to her to take it home at the end of the shift and would collect it when she returned to work. She said it was "not my problem" and did not look inside the bag.

Defence counsel for Williams, Nicole Jenkins, said the money that was found was form the result of a bank loan from Williams father, money he earned from the sale of bikes and his bike shop, and money he had earned from Empire 44 and Lloyds.

Crown prosecutions put it to Williams that the money that was found was from the sale of drugs, and that the fact he did not put the money in the bank, was evidence that money was from the proceeds of a crime.

Williams will be sentenced in the Supreme Court in Launceston on October 11.