Man who was target of major police operation remanded in custody

Drew Alexander Jones of Prospect was given the chance to avoid the jail term if he complied with a drug treatment order imposed on November 30.

Magistrate Sharon Cure placed Jones on the order despite an extensive criminal history, which included 13 occasions of evading police.

He was disqualified from driving for five years at the time of the drug treatment order.

He received bail in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on November 30.

Jones previously failed a drug treatment order in 2022 but was given another chance despite the reservations of Tasmania Police prosecutor Kelly Brown.

On December 21, Jones failed to appear in court for the first review of his drug treatment order by Ms Cure, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.

On December 27, Tasmania Police mounted a major targeted operation to arrest Jones.

The operation involved uniform officers, criminal investigation personnel from Northern and Western Districts, and specialist resources. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was deployed during the operation.

Police say he was taken into custody at a residence in Truscott Grove Mowbray.

On December 28, Jones appeared before a Justice of the Peace and was remanded in custody until December 30 to appear before magistrate Simon Brown.

On December 30, Jones appeared on nine counts of breaching bail on December 14 (twice), 15, 17, 19 (twice), 23, 25, and 27.

He was also charged with four counts of driving while disqualified on December 18, 19 (twice), and 25.

Jones was also charged with using and possessing methylamphetamine on December 27.

Mr Brown refused Jones's bail and remanded him in custody until January 17, 2024.

Jones, of Prospect Vale, was sentenced to a twenty-month jail term in November last year.

In April 2022, he had a sentence deferred on a raft of firearm, driving and drugs charges.

A drug treatment order allows a defendant to avoid a seven-month jail term if they stay off drugs, stop committing offences and abide by other conditions of the order.

Magistrate Sharon Cure said Jones' previous attempt at a drug treatment order was ill-fated because he lived on the northwest coast.

In August 2023, he received a 148-day jail sentence for an aggravated evasion of police and disqualified driving in August 2023.

He was also disqualified from driving for five years.

"You have lost the right to drive a motor vehicle," Ms Cure said.

The court heard he had been found guilty of evading police 13 times since 2013.

"You're in double figures," she said.

She said two counts of evading police in 2022 included one count accompanied by reckless driving.

"You must be deterred because it is dangerous, and it puts ordinary members of the public at risk," she said.

"You have repeatedly avoided pulling up and facing the music, and it is fortunate that nothing more serious has not taken place."

Ms Cure said that Jones had also been convicted of possessing a loaded gun in public.

She said a critical part of Jones' success on the order related to who he associated with-namely whether it was people who used drugs.

"It's your choice whether you do what you always do or change,'' Ms Cure said.

Jones said his most recent term in custody had been a wake-up call.

However, in April 2022, he wrote a letter to magistrate Cure outlining his wish to be a better person.