Bunbury man Blake Ryan McHoull already eligible for parole despite being jailed for possessing methamphetamine

A 28-year-old Bunbury man is eligible to be released from prison after spending more than a year remanded in custody over drug and driving offences. Blake Ryan McHoull was sentenced to a 16-month jail term by the Bunbury District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine with intent to sell or supply to another. The court was told McHoull was seen driving his motorcycle in a southerly direction on Vittoria Road in Glen Iris during the evening of June 3, 2021. Police initially observed McHoull turn on to Vittoria Road from Forrest Highway, where he rode off at speed before turning on to Walldrodt Crescent, where police later attended. Officers then attended McHoull’s address, where they found the motorcycle parked at the rear of the property and found a backpack on the ground next to the motorcycle. After McHoull was arrested in relation to speeding along Vittoria Road, he was taken to the Bunbury Police Station where a search was conducted of McHoull’s backpack. When police uncovered a clear plastic box, McHoull told police “there’s meth in there” despite already being cautioned. After uncovering a large clip-seal bag containing methamphetamine in the box, police also found two small clip-seal bags containing more methamphetamine, as well as a large quantity of unused clip-seal bags and a set of digital scales. The court was told a total of 12.51g of methamphetamine had been found and McHoull had served nine months of a suspended imprisonment order for driving under suspension at the time of offending. In submissions, McHoull’s defence counsel Paul Chapman submitted his client had co-operated with police upon his arrest, identifying the methamphetamine prior to the police actually finding it and admitting it was his in a police interview. It was also submitted McHoull had spiralled into methamphetamine use after suffering spinal injuries in a motorbike accident in April 2020, where he spent several months in a wheelchair. The injury saw him out of employment and McHoull resorted to selling the drug to fund his own habit to help him cope with the pain. Mr Chapman also submitted that since his arrest, McHoull, who had since fully recovered from his injuries, had been attending drug counselling and rehabilitation while in custody. District Court Judge Christian Miocevich sentenced McHoull to a 16-month prison term, along with a three-month term for breaching his suspended prison term, which was made concurrent on the 16-month term. The sentence was backdated to June 3, 2021, when he was arrested, and was made eligible for parole. Along with the prison term, McHoull was fined more than $5200 in the Bunbury Magistrates Court for related offences, including possessing 2g of cannabis, 41g of dexamphetamine, a capsule of MDMA, and possessing a set of digital scales, all of which were found during the police search. McHoull was also fined for driving recklessly, failing to provide the passcode to his phone and driving while his licence was suspended, resulting in a further 15-month licence disqualification.