A drug trafficker who sped away from police in a chase on the Meander Valley Highway later rang police to tell them his car had been stolen, the Launceston Magistrates Court heard.
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Luke Charles Howlett, 36, formerly of Legana, pleaded guilty to perverting justice on July 23, 2021.
The court also heard that Howlett was caught with a 9-millimetre sub-machine gun, ammunition and silencer and a .22 Ruger pistol and a silencer in a rented apartment on April 11, 2023.
Crown prosecutor Amit Sharma said Howlett made false representations to police about his car to avoid charges of evading police, reckless driving, and driving without a licence.
Police saw Howlett's black Holden Commodore on Illawarra Rd before it turned onto the highway at speeds of up to 133 km/h past Entally House and Hadspen.
During the journey, he rang his then-girlfriend on his mobile phone, enabling police to identify where he had been because the calls bounced off towers at Hadspen and Longford.
He was last seen at Traveller's Rest about 5 pm. His car was located within days.
At 7.10 pm, he rang the police saying the car had been stolen and, the next day, filled out a statutory declaration.
In June 2023, Howlett was sentenced in the Supreme Court to 21 months' jail for trafficking in a controlled substance and three months' jail for evading police about separate crimes on March 11, 2021.
Howlett drove at 171kmh on Meander Valley Rd to escape the police.
He had $5780 in cash, a .22 calibre revolver, machete, knuckledusters and drugs worth up to $300,000 in a backpack when police caught up with him in Bracknell.
In 2022, he was sentenced to 10 months in jail for possessing two rifles and ammunition without a licence and evading police and drug charges.
Police prosecutor Katarina Gauden said that police searched Howlett's room at the Central apartments Hotel on April 11 2023 and found ice pipes, snaplock bags of ice and in a Nike bag found the .22 pistol and suppressor and eight rounds of ammunition and the 9 mm submachine gun and 24 rounds of ammunition.
Mr Howlett also pleaded guilty to using and possessing a controlled drug on March 1, 2023, as well as other drug charges at Bridport, Dilston and Launceston.
"They are pretty serious charges having a submachine gun and a pistol," Magistrate Sharon Cure remarked during the hearing.
"And the evade is very serious."
Defence counsel Olivia Jenkins told magistrate Sharon Cure that Mr Howlett was serving a sentence and would be eligible for parole in April.
She said that Howlett had possessed the submachine gun and pistol at a time he was involved in drug trafficking in 2021.
Ms Jenkins said he had descended into serious drug use in his 30s after a solid work history until then.
Ms Cure said it was a challenging sentencing exercise because of the seriousness of the offending offset by Howlett's rehabilitative potential.
"He's got this horrendous period where he is addicted to ice, evading police, and in possession of guns," Ms Cure said.
He will be sentenced on March 27.