Designer-drug dealer for sentence in High Court

Photo / NZ Herald

A drug dealer who has admitted selling a new designer drug in Wellington will go to the High Court for sentencing next month.

French-born Christopher Andre Jean Vigneau, 25, made a brief appearance in Wellington District Court today.

He had previously admitted selling 4-MEC - a designer drug with similar effects to ecstasy - along with possession of other drugs for supply.

Judge Bruce Davidson opted not to sentence him, saying: "It must be for the High Court to decide.''

There was a "real possibility'' Vigneau would get a harsher penalty there, the judge said.

Vigneau, who is being held in custody, was further remanded for a disputed facts hearing in the High Court on November 4. A sentencing date will be fixed then for a raft of indictable charges.

Lawyer Keith Jefferies said there had been difficulties getting a suitable address for home detention.

Police arrested Vigneau in August at Wellington International Airport.

They had found about a year's accumulation of tick lists and documents when they raided his home at Haitaitai in Wellington.

From the records they estimated he had been selling about $10,000 worth of drugs a week, but Mr Jefferies did not accept it was that much.

According to police, 4-MEC was identified by Environmental Science and Research as a new designer drug, made as a powder but often sold as pills.

The pills cost between $30 and $45 each.