A man’s attempt to smuggle drugs into Acacia Prison has gone down like a lead balloon with the courts
Camera IconA man’s attempt to smuggle drugs into Acacia Prison has gone down like a lead balloon with the courts Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Man tried to smuggle drugs into Acacia Prison in a balloon

Gabrielle JefferyWeekend Kwinana Courier

A MAN who used a balloon to sneak methamphetamine into Acacia Prison has ended up there himself and will stay there until he pays off thousands of dollars of forfeited bail.

Caught on an arrest warrant, Nikola Filip Dautanac appeared at Rockingham Magistrates Court on July 21 where he was convicted of eight charges.

He pleaded guilty to three bail breaches, conveying an unauthorised article into a prison likely jeopardise security, two charges of no authority to drive, possession of stolen property and using an unlicensed vehicle on a road.

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The prosecutor said Dautanac was visiting an inmate at Acacia Prison on July 8, 2016.

While shaking hands with an inmate, Dautanac slipped him a balloon with methamphetamine in it.

Prison guards saw the exchange. It was also caught on CCTV.

Dautanac was arrested at the prison.

In February 2016 police found him riding a stolen bike along a railway carriageway.

In May he was driving in Barragup when police signalled him to stop. He stopped his bike and ran off into a nearby paddock.

Police caught up with him in the paddock and he was arrested.

Magistrate Vivian Edwards asked if he accepted the facts.

“I do your honour,” he said.

“Please give me a chance for doing the wrong thing.

“I’ve been proactive in looking for work, I’m sorry for being a burden.”

Magistrate Edwards said taking drugs to prison warranted an immediate prison term.

“It is to deter others and is extremely serious,” she said.

“One of your referees speaks highly of you but I query that due to your criminal past and she has only known you for five months.

“I don’t a lot give weight to the references from your girlfriend and brother as they are biased towards you.”

She said other references indicated there was a positive change in his behaviour.

She sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence of 16 months suspended for 18 months.

She fined him $800 and ordered he forfeit $5000 for breaching bail by failing to appear at court.

“I have also made an order that you remain in custody until the fine is paid,” she said.

Dautanac said he did not have the money.

“You need to pay the lot, including the forfeited amounts before you can be released,” she said.

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