Damien McIntosh pleaded guilty in Bega Local Court on September 27 to possessing a prohibited drug after he was caught by police with six grams of cannabis in June this year. 

At the time of the incident the 51-year-old was serving a suspended sentence after being caught selling 0.21 grams of methylamphetamine to a woman at the Commercial Hotel in Bega during a police operation targeting the supply of drugs in the area in June 2015. 

McIntosh’s solicitor Paul Thompson told the court his client had battled drug and alcohol problems his whole life and despite completing rehab twice he had “been unable to abstain for more than six months before relapsing”. 

Mr Thompson said McIntosh was forthright with police when he was caught with the cannabis and understood the implications of his actions. 

On the afternoon of June 9 this year, police stopped a car with a woman driving, McIntosh in the passenger seat and two young women in the back. 

Police informed the driver of their suspicion that the people in her car may have been in possession of illegal drugs. 

McIntosh and the driver consented to a search, during which police asked McIntosh to empty his pockets. 

It was at this time that McIntosh seemed to realise the gravity of the situation. 

“I’m f***ed now, I’m going to jail,” he said. 

He then handed police a sandwich bag filled with what police described as “green vegetable matter”. 

McIntosh informed police it was cannabis that it belonged to him and he had intended to smoke it.

On September 27, Magistrate Doug Dick sentenced McIntosh to 18 months in prison with a five-month non-parole period for possession and violating the terms of his suspended sentence. 

Magistrate Dick said he would also recommend that McIntosh undergo regular drug and alcohol testing during his parole.