Andy Jackson / Stuff
Three drug offenders were jailed when they appeared in court in New Plymouth on Friday. (File photo)
A Nomads gang member involved in a plot to smuggle drugs into prison has been jailed.
Daniel Allan Couchman appeared in New Plymouth District Court via an audiovisual link from Manawatū Prison on a range of charges, including drug offenses related to a plot he plotted against a sitting inmate last year.
By April 2021, Corrections staff had been monitoring conversations between Couchman and the Whanganui inmate, who uncovered a plan to sell cannabis.
Couchman agreed to sell quantities of the Class C drug and then deposit the proceeds into the inmate’s account. The following month, another deal was struck, supplying drugs to an associate of the inmate, who was also behind bars.
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During a day of compassionate release from prison, the employee met Couchman, who gave him 17 grams of cannabis leaf, 9 grams of cannabis oil, 1.3 grams of meth and one acid tablet.
When the man returned to prison, he was searched by corrections personnel before being taken to Whanganui Hospital, where a 6-inch cylindrical object containing the drugs was removed from his rectum.
Along with the drug and other driving-related charges, Couchman previously admitted to violating a protective order and being in illegal possession of a rifle.
Attorney Paul Keegan outlined Couchman’s troubled relationship with his former partner, the impact it had on his young child and his ongoing ties to the Nomad gang, describing his client’s loyalties as “torn”.
Judge Tony Greig highlighted Couchman’s abusive history, including 10 past protection warrant violations, but credited the defendant’s early admissions of guilt and “sincere desire to change.”
Couchman was sentenced to three years and three months in prison and a 12-month driving ban during Friday’s hearing.
The judge also ordered the destruction of the gun and drugs.
The inmate who colluded with Couchman in the drug trade was previously jailed for two and a half years.
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Judge Greig said Ada Pue and Dion Hunt’s methamphetamine offense was motivated by greed. (File photo)
Couple convicted of meth charges
In a separate case, Ada Sharon Pue and Dion James Hunt were jailed on charges of possession and supply of methamphetamine after being found guilty in a jury trial earlier this year.
Judge Greig sentenced both of them to five years and five months in prison, which he described as motivated by greed.
The couple were arrested in July 2017, as part of Operation Homes, after officers tapped thousands of text messages and phone calls attributed to the couple.
The judge said the couple arranged to supply 33 grams of methamphetamine to Pue’s son in New Plymouth on July 6, 2017.
A police search of their home in Tikorangi on July 27 found 24.2 g of P hidden in a box along a fence.
Hunt’s attorney Rob Weir sought credit for the time his client spent on electronic bail and his ongoing health problems.
He opposed the minimum 50% jail term requested by the Crown, as did Pue’s lawyer, Suzie Abdale.
Abdale cited her client’s health condition and the amount of volunteer work she had done in the past five years as extenuating circumstances.
Abdale said it was a small-scale operation and not comparable to the last time Pue and Hunt were caught dealing with P.
In 2002, the couple were convicted of making and distributing methamphetamine in Auckland, leading them to prison terms.
After jailing the couple, Judge Greig imposed the requested minimum jail term.