Drink spiking was payback for bad drugs, man claims
A North Canterbury man says he spiked the drink of his drug dealer after the dealer’s batch of “speed” made people ill.
Police described the incident as “vigilante justice” at the sentencing by Judge David Ongley in the Christchurch District Court today.
The court was told that the 43-year-old man who did the spiking, Craig Dixon, has been threatened with retribution from the victim’s circle of associates.
Dixon had pleaded guilty to charges of causing a person “to ingest a noxious substance” and driving with a high breath-alcohol level of 1037mcg of alcohol to a litre of breath. The legal limit is 400mcg.
Defence counsel Stephanie Blake urged a rehabilitative sentence. She said Dixon and reflected on his behaviour and now saw it as “foolish and short-sighted” and acknowedged the premeditation and the harm done.
Dixon had not expected that the reaction of the victim – the dealer, whose beer he spiked at a rural North Canterbury pub – would be any more serious than his own experience.
She denied the offence could be seen as a breach of trust. “The relationship between these two parties arises out of criminal activity,” she said.
She said there was a risk of further retribution from the circle of associates. “It has been threatened,” she said.
There is also a dispute over Dixon’s claim that he visited the victim after he was released from hospital and paid him $400 for his lost earnings. The victim denies receiving the money.
Judge Ongley said Dixon had furtively “introduced a powder substance into the victim’s beer”. Soon after he drank it, he collapsed and was admitted to hospital. He spent three days in hospital and took a month to recover. The victim reported that he was not sure if he would ever get over the effects.
The judge said: “You have explained that he was a dealer in illicit substances and had sold to you and others a batch of ‘speed’ which had made people ill. [The drink spiking] was in the nature of payback or a practical joke.”
The prosecutor had referred to the incident as vigilante justice.
“You knew it would cause some harm and distress but not to the degree that followed,” the judge told Dixon.
He said Dixon was an alcoholic and saw that as a normal part of his life. He had been brought up in a family where alcohol was a dominant part of everyday life, and had then mixed with people who used drugs. He was seen as a good worker.
It was his fifth conviction for drink-driving. He had received community work and supervision for his last offence in 2006. On the latest occasion, in November, he had an extremely high reading and had been seen weaving his car across the road.
Judge Ongley imposed a five-month community detention sentence when Dixon will be living under curfew at his home, and intensive supervision for a year when he will have to undertake alcohol and drug assessment, treatment, and counselling as directed.
He will have to carry out 150 hours of community work, and is disqualified from driving for a year-and-a-day which means he will have to go through the process of sitting the test for a new driver’s licence after that time.
Category: News
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