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Bluelighter
Bitter taste of M&M's
BY ANTHONY HANEVEER
25/06/2009 12:00:00 AM
JAILED: A file picture of Dwayne Seabourne, when he was 17.
IF TREATS are handed out in prison, a Devonport man could be forgiven for turning up his nose at M&M's.
Dwayne Grant Seabourne, 21, was jailed for three months yesterday for attempting to traffick in ecstasy - in spite of the "drugs" turning out to be the popular chocolate confectionery.
Last week, Seabourne admitted he travelled to Melbourne in November last year and paid thousands of dollars for what he thought were 400 ecstasy tablets.
When intercepted by police at the Launceston Airport, he readily admitted to having bought the drugs and handed over a cylinder wrapped in masking tape.
Opened in a recorded police interview, the package turned out to contain hundreds of blue M&M's, much to Seabourne's surprise.
"You had been deceived and as a result paid $6000 for chocolate," Justice Shan Tennent summed up in sentencing in the Burnie Supreme Court.
Along with the attempting to traffick charge, Seabourne also pleaded guilty last week to several minor drug offences.
While "clearly an unusual case", Justice Tennent said the sentence she imposed on Seabourne should reflect his intentions and the steps he took to fulfil them.
She said he obviously intended to sell ecstasy, even if it was not a well-planned operation and had been attempted at the last minute.
Seabourne had travelled to Melbourne, Justice Tennent said, using a false name and also had bank cards in that name.
The former champion darts player was jailed for five months, with the last two months of that sentence suspended for two years provided he be of good behaviour.
He was also ordered to pay a Victims of Crime levy of $130.
On a positive note for Seabourne, the Crown did not apply for a forfeiture order.
That means he may be able to apply to have the rather expensive M&M's returned.
http://www.theadvocate.com.au/news/local/news/general/bitter-taste-of-mms/1550179.aspx
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