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District Court 16 December 2025

R v Wilson Lam; R v Smith

[2025] NSWDC 532

Drugs

Citation: R v Wilson Lam; R v Smith [2025] NSWDC 532
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 16 December 2025
Judge: Priestley SC DCJ

Background

Two co-offenders were sentenced for supplying methylamphetamine in amounts not less than the large commercial quantity under section 25(2) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985. The first offender, a woman in her late thirties living in regional New South Wales, operated as the front person for the supply network, dealing directly with purchasers over approximately four months in 2024. The second offender, a man in his thirties, was her upline supplier and a mid-level dealer with a customer base across the Northern Rivers region and southern Gold Coast.

A third participant, who had played a far lesser role by occasionally driving the first offender to supply locations, had already received Community Corrections Orders and was not the subject of parity submissions in this hearing.

Both offenders entered early guilty pleas and were arrested on 31 July 2024 at the conclusion of a covert police operation involving physical surveillance, telephone interception, and an undercover operative.

Legal Issues

  • Whether the involvement of an undercover operative reduced the moral culpability of the first offender, given the volumes of methylamphetamine she supplied to that operative
  • How to assess the objective seriousness of each offender's conduct within the section 25(2) offence framework, including the relevance of the standard non-parole period as a legislative guidepost
  • Whether the Bugmy principles of social and economic deprivation applied to reduce each offender's moral culpability
  • Whether there was a causal connection between each offender's mental health conditions and their offending
  • Whether special circumstances existed to justify a non-parole period shorter than the statutory ratio
  • What aggregate sentence was proportionate, taking into account early plea discounts, Form 1 matters, and section 166 certificate matters

Decision

Issue 1: Impact of the undercover operative on culpability (Wilson-Lam)

The court rejected the submission that the undercover operative's involvement constituted coercion or pressure that reduced the first offender's moral culpability (at [45]-[47]). Applying the five factors derived from Parris, Jomaa and Kada, the court found that the operative simply provided a willing purchaser for larger quantities and that, on the agreed facts, it was the first offender who at times initiated contact seeking further business (at [43]-[46]). The court characterised the police involvement as providing a welcome expansion to an existing trafficking operation, not as overbearing conduct. All larger supplies were accommodated through existing supply lines, primarily through the co-offender (at [46]-[48]).

Issue 2: Objective seriousness

For Wilson-Lam, the court assessed objective seriousness as towards the bottom of the middle 40%, below the Crown's submission of mid-range (at [52]). The court noted her relatively unsophisticated methods, her position as the most exposed participant, and the varying levels of her role across the 39 supplies. For Smith, the court assessed seriousness as towards the bottom of the middle 30% (at [133]), recognising his mid-level position but noting there was no upper limit to the offence and that his 12-occasion rolled-up charge reflected deep enmeshment in the trade.

Issue 3: Bugmy principles and moral culpability

Both offenders' backgrounds established the Bugmy principles of deprivation and social-economic hardship (at [104]-[105], [166]). Wilson-Lam had witnessed chronic domestic violence, suffered physical assault by a teacher, and was kidnapped and repeatedly raped over nine months at age 15. Smith experienced domestic violence, sexual abuse on two occasions in childhood, exposure to normalised drug use in his father's home, homelessness from age 15, and had never had stable employment. The court accepted that both offenders bore lesser moral culpability as a result, though the extent of mitigation remained limited.

Issue 4: Mental health and causal connection

The court declined to find a causal connection between Wilson-Lam's diagnosed mental health conditions and her offending (at [106]). The psychologist's report was described as qualified, given concerns about the offender's frankness during psychometric testing and the absence of reasoning to support the asserted causal conclusion. A similar position was taken in respect of Smith, whose psychologist did not identify any current psychiatric disturbance, though both courts acknowledged that their respective backgrounds contextualised their conduct.

Issue 5: Special circumstances and rehabilitation

Special circumstances were found in both cases. For Wilson-Lam, the court pointed to her first period in custody, her meaningful engagement with counselling and drug treatment while on bail, her negative drug tests, and the tangible benefit her presence in the community had on her children (at [110]). For Smith, the court noted his engagement with employment, mentoring, and substance abuse programs in custody, his use of buprenorphine, and his favourable albeit guarded prospects (at [173]).

Issue 6: Sentences imposed

Wilson-Lam received a 25% discount for her early plea. The indicative sentence for the section 25(2) offence before discount was five years, resulting in three years and nine months after discount, with a two-year non-parole period. Four concurrent three-month terms were imposed for the drive-whilst-disqualified matters. The aggregate sentence was four years with a non-parole period of two years, commencing 1 June 2025 (at [115]-[119]). Smith also received a 25% discount. His head sentence before discount was seven years, producing five years and three months after discount, with a non-parole period of three years and three months, commencing 31 July 2024 (at [171]-[173]). For the ammunition possession matter, the court proceeded under section 10A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act and recorded a conviction with no further penalty.

Orders Made

Wilson-Lam:
- Convicted of the offence under section 25(2) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act and of the four matters on the section 166 certificate
- Sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment commencing 1 June 2025, with a non-parole period of two years expiring 31 May 2027 and a balance of term of two years expiring 31 May 2029

Smith:
- Convicted of the offence under section 25(2) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act
- Sentenced to a term of imprisonment commencing 31 July 2024, with a non-parole period of three years and three months expiring 30 October 2027, and a balance of term of two years expiring 30 October 2029
- In respect of the possess ammunition matter: conviction recorded under section 10A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act with no further penalty

Key Takeaways

  • Where an undercover operative provides a willing purchaser for larger quantities of drugs, the court's analysis turns on whether there was genuine coercion or pressure, or whether the requests represented a welcome expansion to an existing operation that was accommodated through established supply lines. The District Court found the latter on these facts and declined to reduce the first offender's moral culpability accordingly (at [45]-[48]).

  • The standard non-parole period for section 25(2) Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act offences operates as a legislative guidepost, not a fixed starting point, with the High Court's approach in Muldrock confirming its relevance even where offending is not assessed as falling in the middle of the range of seriousness (at [3]).

  • Bugmy principles applied to both offenders, each of whom had experienced severe childhood disadvantage including exposure to domestic violence, sexual abuse, and homelessness. The court found that both bore lesser moral culpability as a result, which tempered the emphasis on general deterrence, though general deterrence retained significance in drug supply sentencing (at [104]-[107], [166]-[168]).

  • A qualified psychological report, where psychometric testing raised concerns about a subject's frankness and where the causal conclusion was asserted without developed reasoning, carried reduced weight. The court declined to find a causal connection between Wilson-Lam's mental health conditions and her offending on that basis (at [97], [106]).

  • Special circumstances justifying an extended parole period can be established by reference to first-time custody, demonstrated rehabilitative steps during bail or in custody, and the collateral impact on dependent children. In both cases, the court found that an extended supervision period served both the rehabilitative and deterrent purposes of sentencing more effectively than additional time in custody (at [110], [114], [173]).

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 No 1 of 2002
- Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985

Cases
- Chung v R [2025] NSWCCA 87
- Jomaa v R [2022] NSWCCA 112
- Kada v The Queen [2017] VSCA 339
- Muldrock (2011) 244 CLR 120
- Nguyen v R [2024] NSWCCA 178
- Parris v R [2013] NSWCCA 5