Matthew Knox, 25, outside Hamilton District Court after being sentenced on five drug charges on Wednesday. Photo / Belinda Feek
A man who was supplying a woman with illicit drugs, which she later fatally overdosed on, has asked a judge to give him a heavier sentence.
Matthew Allen Knox met the 24-year-old woman, who was often in pain from medical issues, in early 2024.
Over the next five months, he offered, sold and supplied illicit drugs to her.
The day after he sold her 100mg of heroin for $100 she was found dead.
While Knox wasn’t charged in relation to her death, he did face five drug charges, including supplying or selling MDMA, oxycodone and heroin.
The 25-year-old has been sentenced in the Hamilton District Court, where Judge Kim Saunders tried to hand down a term of four months’ community detention.
“I don’t want to put my foot in it,” Knox told the judge, before asking if she could instead give him about seven months to keep him on track with his own rehabilitation.
Judge Saunders explained the maximum was six months and duly adjusted her sentence.
Knox met the woman in 2024 and was aware she had health problems, an alcohol addiction, and was often in pain from medical issues, which required hospitalisation.
On three occasions in April, Knox offered to supply her with an undisclosed amount of MDMA, but she declined each time.
Knox himself picked magic mushrooms and sold them to his friend on three occasions, including selling 210g for $3000.
On May 21, he sold her 120mg of morphine for $90.
Between May 23 and July 11, he sold and supplied her 310mg of oxycodone over four separate occasions for a total of $620.
On June 27, Knox bought half a gram of heroin for $400.
On July 13, the woman asked to buy some heroin from Knox and he sold her 100mg for $100.
She was found dead the next day, still in possession of some of the heroin.
A coroner later ruled the effects of the heroin, combined with codeine, diazepam and the anti-psychotic drug quetiapine caused her death.
When questioned by police, Knox admitted supplying the woman with drugs and said he did it to help her as “she was in pain and the doctors were not doing enough to address that pain”.
Knox was sentenced on charges of offering to supply Class B drugs, MDMA, and selling morphine and oxycodone, and selling Class A drugs, magic mushrooms, or psilocybine, and heroin.
The latter two charges have a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Knox’s counsel, James Gurnick, submitted a report from neuropsychologist Dr Jon Nuth, which he said clearly set out the nexus between his addiction and the offending and pushed for 65% in total discounts.
But Judge Saunders wasn’t impressed, stating the information given to the doctor was self-reported from Knox.
Gurnick agreed but said there were some medical notes from a different doctor in his client’s file.
He pushed for a community detention sentence, which the judge agreed to do but she disagreed with the discounts.
“I can tell you now, I’m not at all attracted to a 70% discount for Mr Knox, which is essentially the submission that you are making,” she told him.
But Gurnick held fast, replying the discount was “certainly the type of reduction that has been afforded to offenders in the past”.
Judge Saunders began her sentencing by acknowledging the dead woman’s parents, who were in court to see Knox in the dock.
“I’m sure that nothing I say can mitigate your loss, but I acknowledge it,” she told them.
The judge then told Knox she accepted he was not a commercial drug dealer, and instead was just giving them to his friends.
She said he hadn’t been charged over the woman’s death, but “the heroin you supplied to her was identified as a contributing factor to her death”.
“I accept you did this because you thought it would help to manage the pain that she was in.”
Knox had told a pre-sentence report writer he had used heroin as a means of “blocking pain” and had been using drugs to self-medicate since he was 16 or 17.
He took full responsibility for what happened and was genuinely remorseful.
Knox had also stopped using drugs, had a treatment plan, and was continuing to work with Nuth.
He had also been diagnosed with ADHD and “likely” autism spectrum disorder.
“Clearly, you have used drugs as a means of getting through life since you were 16, turning to methamphetamine at 17, and to other illegal drugs since,” the judge said.
“It is long-standing, it is multifaceted, and it seems on one occasion there was an overdose.
“You thought the use of illegal drugs was the best way to alleviate your stress and your distress and, in turn, to alleviate that of your friend.
“You now understand completely how wrong that was.”
Judge Saunders told him the harm caused by illegal drugs “could not be overstated”.
“The inevitable harm to an individual, a loved one, the community, and to so often the offender, occurs because of an addict’s need to fund their habit,” she said.
However, she didn’t accept there was a causal nexus between his offending and addiction that would warrant a discount, she said.
“But it is relevant to me when I consider a final sentence,” she told him.
After allowing 40% in discounts, she sentenced Knox to an adjusted six months’ community detention and 18 months’ intensive supervision.
Heroin is a depressant, but can make you feel euphoric, warm and sleepy, and temporarily relieve pain.
Knox’s associate was one of 45 opioid drug overdose cases in New Zealand in 2024.
Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said opioids, including heroin, are the leading cause of overdose fatalities in New Zealand.
Having more than one depressant in your body significantly increases the risk of an overdose, as it can result in the body beginning to shut down.
She said heroin, also known as Smack, Brown, Dope, Horse, wasn’t new to New Zealand, but had “a very small and likely declining presence”.
However, data sets tended to combine opioids, so it could be hard to say with certainty.
“We have seen a small number of heroin samples in drug checking clinics in the past year,” she said.
One way to prevent opioid fatalities was improved access to naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdose.
Overseas, heroin was commonly laced with fentanyl, a powerful opioid, which if present can be detected using fentanyl testing strips.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.