By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man has faced sentence after hosting a clandestine meth lab in his ailing father’s home shed in Doveton.
Alexander Ballantyne, 39, had been a live-in carer for his cancer-struck Dad when he agreed to allow co-offender Jessie Walton, 45, to cook ice on the property in late 2020.
He expected up to one ounce of meth from Walton in return, he later told police.
Ballantyne pleaded guilty at the County Court of Victoria to possessing a substance, material and equipment for trafficking a drug of dependence, as well as committing the indictable offence while on bail.
Walton pleaded guilty to four charges, and was yet to be sentenced.
During a police raid on 23 October 2020, Ballantyne was arrested coming out of the shed while Walton was allegedly caught making meth in the lab.
Police seized several precursor chemicals, including 118 grams of pure ephedrine – which is enough to create 88 grams of ice.
An array of scientific glassware and lab equipment, as well as 87.6 grams of ice – 44 grams pure – were also seized.
In sentencing on 24 February, Judge George Georgiou accepted Ballantyne was not the “principal” offender but a “significant” facilitator.
He had admitted to owning some of the glassware, knowing about the cook as well as the lab setup and manufacturing process in detail.
“I can’t say that I didn’t help at all,” Ballantyne told police.
There was little to mitigate his moral culpability, other than being motivated by his own drug use, Judge Georgiou said.
An ice user since his mid-20’s, Ballantyne’s drug taking had escalated at the time. He was out of work due to the extended Covid lockdown.
His “extensive” criminal history dated back to 1999, including breaches of suspended sentences and court orders.
At the time of the raid, Ballantyne had been on bail for possessing meth and a controlled weapon.
After his arrest, Ballantyne was again released on bail in March 2021.
He had not been charged since, and was said to have been abstinent from drugs.
The judge noted the early guilty plea, significant admissions and co-operation with police.
Ballanytne’s rehabilitation prospects were “guarded”, but was still an “important consideration”.
He was jailed for 157 days – already served in pre-sentence remand – and put on an 18-month community corrections order.
The CCO includes supervision, judicial monitoring, drug and alcohol testing and treatment, and 170 hours of unpaid work.
