A Dunedin man who blew his inheritance on methamphetamine says he wants to live the last quarter of his life within the law.
In November last year, Michael Patrick Hessian, 56, was riding his Harley-Davidson motorbike through the CBD when a bungy cord used to secure his belongings to the bike snapped and caused a bag full of incriminating evidence to fall on the road.
Inside the bag were Hessian’s wallet and 9g of methamphetamine, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
On December 6, police searched the man’s home and found a further 2.5g of the prohibited substance and two glass pipes.
Hessian’s father had recently died, leaving him with a substantial inheritance to spend on drugs.
"The introduction of wealth has now caused him to develop a methamphetamine addiction," court documents said.
At 2.30am on March 31, while on bail for this offending, Hessian was asleep on his couch.
His partner woke him and told him she could not find the television remote.
"To add further to your woes, you became enraged," Judge Jim Large said.
As he got in the woman’s face he threatened to break her neck and shouted that he would kill her.
The man provided the court with a letter, in which he stated: "I made all the mistakes ... she did the right thing calling police."
Counsel Cate Anderson said the man had a strong desire for rehabilitation and was focused on staying clean.
"You can see where methamphetamine has got you," the judge said, as he drew attention to the man’s 15-page criminal history.
"You now wish to lead the last quarter of your life in a law-abiding, offence-free way.
"I will give you the opportunity to see if you can walk the walk ... as to whether you decide to remain meth-free for the next day, two days, week or year, is up to you."
Hessian was convicted of two methamphetamine charges, breaching release conditions, assault in a family relationship and threatening to kill.
The man spent five months in custody and Judge Large encouraged him to stay out of prison when he sentenced him to two years’ intensive supervision.
