A Kiwi police prosecutor who was convicted of trafficking drugs has said he should be freed because his product was rubbish.
Police discovered last year that Aukland District Court prosecutor Tim Sarah was dealing methamphetamines in his lunch break and accessing their intelligence computers to tip off other drug-dealers that were under surveillance.
Sarah was jailed for four years in May. But he is now appealing on the basis that his meth was heavily cut. Testing showed that it was only 5% pure, as opposed to the street average of 70%. Sarah claims the extreme weakness of his product should have been taken into account by police. Sarah also claims that although his drug-dealing was "hypocritical" given his day job, Judge Kit Toogood should have given him 18 months in prison in line with similar cases, and basically pulled the four year term out of his arse.
In an interview with the New Zealand Herald Sarah said he ended up dealing meth after seeing a woman set herself on fire when he successfully opposed bail for her partner. "I didn't wake up one morning and decide to give the middle finger to the law," he said. Sarah claimed the incident triggered nightmares so intense that he feared sleep, which led him down the slippery road to taking, then dealing, very weak drugs.
Tip Off ROF
Police discovered last year that Aukland District Court prosecutor Tim Sarah was dealing methamphetamines in his lunch break and accessing their intelligence computers to tip off other drug-dealers that were under surveillance.
Sarah was jailed for four years in May. But he is now appealing on the basis that his meth was heavily cut. Testing showed that it was only 5% pure, as opposed to the street average of 70%. Sarah claims the extreme weakness of his product should have been taken into account by police. Sarah also claims that although his drug-dealing was "hypocritical" given his day job, Judge Kit Toogood should have given him 18 months in prison in line with similar cases, and basically pulled the four year term out of his arse.
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The lawyer Sarah should have instructed, yesterday |
In an interview with the New Zealand Herald Sarah said he ended up dealing meth after seeing a woman set herself on fire when he successfully opposed bail for her partner. "I didn't wake up one morning and decide to give the middle finger to the law," he said. Sarah claimed the incident triggered nightmares so intense that he feared sleep, which led him down the slippery road to taking, then dealing, very weak drugs.