R v Veronese [2007] NSWDC 241

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Veronese [2007] NSWDC 241

HEARING DATE(S): 12/12/06 15/02/07

JUDGMENT DATE: 15 February 2007

JURISDICTION: Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Conlon SC DCJ

DECISION: CONVICTED: Sentenced to non-parole period of 2 years 6 months with addiitonal term of 2 years 6 months. Special Circumstances. Recommendation for classification.

CATCHWORDS: Knowingly take part manufacture drug - Methylamphetamine - Not less than commercial quantity

LEGISLATION CITED: Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW)

R v Way (2004) 60 NSWLR 53 & 122 R v Bassam Turkmani [2002] NSWCCA 338 CASES CITED: R v Wirth (1976) 14 SASR 291 R v Sharma (2002) 54 NSWLR 300 R v Dibb [2003] NSWCCA 117

PARTIES: Crown Allan Veronese (Accused)

FILE NUMBER(S): 05/41/0106

COUNSEL: Mr M Fox (Crown) Mr C Bolger (Accused)

SOLICITORS: Ms Pawliw (Crown) Ms Stuart (Accused)

JUDGMENT

1 HIS HONOUR: The offender, Allan Veronese, appears for sentence, consequent upon his pleading guilty to a charge that on 18 December 2004, at Corrimal, in the state of New South Wales, he did knowingly take part in the manufacture of a prohibited drug, namely methylamphetamine, in an amount not less than the commercial quantity of that drug.

2 This charge is under s 24(2) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, and the maximum penalty for this offence is one of twenty years imprisonment.

3 The Crown tendered a bundle of documents, exhibit A, which included the agreed statement of facts. It reads as follows: "Located at 10 Albert Street, Corrimal, is a large workshop containing an internal room and bathroom on a mezzanine level. This building is located at the rear of residential premises, occupied by the accused, Allan Veronese, who has resided at the premises since the late 1980's. The premises are owned by the accused's brother. The co-accused, Milan Milovanovic, first met Mr Allan Veronese, the offender, about sixteen years ago, when Milovanovic's father and Mr Veronese were involved in a business together. In 2004, Milovanovic approached Mr Veronese and advised him he was in debt to a criminal associate and needed premises to manufacture drugs to pay off the debt. The offender inquired what he would get in return and was advised he would receive $2000. The offender agreed with this arrangement and permitted the internal office, inside the workshop, to be used by Milovanovic for the manufacture of prohibited drugs. As a result of information supplied to police, Operation McGruer was established in late November 2004, to investigate the manufacture and supply of methylamphetamine, by Milovanovic, from the workshop at 12 Albert Street, Corrimal. During the investigation, evidence was gathered from lawfully installed electronic devices. These devices comprised of internal and external video cameras and an internal listening device. From 9 to 18 December 2004, the investigation established that the co-accused, Justin Cram, and Milovanovic, were regularly attending the workshop. The offender, who lived close by in the attached residence, was also observed entering and leaving the workshop. Owing to the poor placement of the electronic devices, the quality of the video and LD recordings was very poor. The internal video camera did not cover the location of the drug production, as it was not positioned in the correct location. Nevertheless, on the LD recordings, it can be established that a "cook" was taking place in the premises. Listening devices inside the workshop recorded conversations between Milovanovic and Veronese (the offender) and Cram. During a conversation on 15 December 2004, Veronese is heard discussing weights of the drugs. By way of example, on 15 December 2004, the following comments, by the offender, were recorded on the internal, listening device. On CD 6, track 38, "You can see it. What's there? There is at least 400 grams there. I can see that and I don't know what the fuck I'm doing". On CD 6, track 39, "There's fucking 400 easy, I can see, I can see by looking at it, if it were me, there's about 450". On CD 6, track 40, "But you've got more in there, now you're going to have more than what you expected...you might have close to what you want". On CD, track 48, "You've made the numbers and you've made extra, 200 out of that and 250. He's made his money and you've made extra on top...he's made 250 out of that. He's made his money and you've made a bonus, haven't you, are you going to tell him about the bonus? For the times you get 750. You've got 750 and you've got 740". At about 7.30am on Thursday, 16 December 2004, the co-accused, Milovanovic, was observed leaving the workshop at 10 Albert Street, whilst carrying a backpack. At this time he was stopped by police and his backpack searched. Located in the backpack was a three litre and one litre bottle of methylated spirits. At the time, Milovanovic stated that it was used by his wife to clean their child's bottles. Methylated spirits is commonly used as part of the extraction process to separate pseudoephedrine from waste product during the manufacture of methylamphetamine. Milovanovic was permitted to leave. Police continued the surveillance of the workshop. At about 7.30pm on Friday, 17 December 2004, Milovanovic and Cram were seen entering the workshop. The offender was also seen entering the workshop. Upon application by investigating police, search warrants were granted by a justice from the Parramatta Local Court, for the premises of 12 Albert Street, Corrimal, including both the accused's residence and the workshop and also for the residence of Milovanovic at 12 Forestview Way, Woonona. On the evening of 18 December 2004, Milovanovic was arrested by police, leaving the property at 10 Albert Street, with a total of 1.0158 kilos of methylamphetamine in three plastic containers. The weights of the contents of the three containers was 123.0 grams, 446.4 grams and 446.4 grams respectively. The contents of the containers that were found in the possession of Milovanovic were subsequently forwarded for analysis. The purity of the drug in each was determined to be 16.5 per cent, 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Detective Senior Constable Jameson, an officer attached to the professional standards command, with extensive experience in drug investigation, has confirmed the street level purity of methylamphetamine is between 2 and 5 per cent. Whilst the crime scene was being established, the offender returned to the property where he was arrested and transported to Wollongong Police Station. The co-offender, Cram, was arrested nearby a short time later and was found to be in possession of a small amount of methylamphetamine, consistent with his own use. A search of the offender's residence did not locate any evidence implicating him in the actual manufacture or supply of the prohibited drugs. Specialist police from the chemical operations unit of the state crime command drug squad, then executed the search warrant at 10 Albert Street, Corrimal. In the internal office, in the workshop, was located a clandestine laboratory and a quantity of chemicals and precursors and chemical extraction equipment, consistent with the commercial manufacture of methylamphetamine. Over the next four days, the site was examined by the chemical operations branch of the state crime command. Examination of the workshop and laboratory took place with protective clothing and equipment, as it was determined to be a hazardous material site. Amounts of toxic waste products included 20 litre drums of chemicals and solvents, consistent with commercial scale manufacture of methylamphetamine were present. The material located and seized by the police included a 5 litre container of hypo-phosphorous acid, 21 kilos of iodine and a 500 millilitre container of sassafras oil. These chemicals are all used in the manufacture of methylamphetamine. A number of photographs and a video of the scene were prepared by the police. During the search conducted at the residence of Milovanovic in Woonona, chemicals and equipment consistent with the manufacture of methylamphetamine were also located. In the offender's ERISP, conducted on 18 December 2004, he stated he had no knowledge that the manufacture was taking place. He said that he had leased the room on the mezzanine level to Milovanovic for $150 a week, however, denied any knowledge of the manufacture of prohibited drugs. The co-offender, Cram, declined to answer any questions. The co-offender, Milovanovic, initially denied the drug manufacture, however, subsequently, admitted his involvement in a second ERISP interview conducted a few months after his arrest. On 29 March 2006, Milovanovic provided a formal statement to police, stating that he was using the room in the workshop to manufacture methylamphetamine, with the express agreement of the offender. He stated that between 15 December 2004 and 18 December 2004, the offender attended the laboratory and asked questions about the process. Milovanovic was provided with transcripts of the recorded conversations of 15 December 2004 and confirmed the voices captured on the internal listening device were his and that of this offender. Fingerprint analysis of the workshop and contents and equipment, located numerous prints belonging to co-offender Milovanovic and two prints belonging to co-offender Cram. No fingerprints of this offender were located in the workshop."