Jail for scientist who made drugs

By SCOTT INGLIS

A research scientist who is the first person convicted of manufacturing the party drug Ecstasy in New Zealand has been jailed for three years.

Garrett Phillip Butt, aged 27, was sentenced yesterday by Justice Colin Nicholson in the High Court at Auckland after pleading guilty to two Ecstasy-related charges.

Butt admitted manufacturing the class B drug MDMA, and attempting to manufacture the closely related class A drug MDA.

Both can be sold as versions of Ecstasy.

His case comes after at least three Ecstasy-related deaths in New Zealand and a warning from the Nelson coroner that Ecstasy is dangerous and misunderstood.

In the Butt case, Auckland police literally stumbled across a sophisticated laboratory at his Mt Albert Rd home in February after being alerted to a break-in by two people.

When they entered the house to catch one of the burglars, they also discovered equipment used to make the drug.

A search warrant was executed and forensic scientists found chemicals to make the drug in the garage, laundry and kitchen freezer. They also found equipment used to make the drug.

Detectives found 23 class B Ecstasy capsules, plus enough of the drug to fill another 150.

A container holding $200 in $20 notes was found with some of the drugs.

They also found a substance used to help make both classes of Ecstasy which the Crown said equated to 503 capsules.

Butt's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, disputed this, saying its yield was enough for only 226 capsules.

The Crown claimed this total amount would be worth between $33,800 and $54,080.

Ms Dyhrberg argued it was more likely to be between just under $20,000 and under $32,000.

Police also found a flask containing a mixture which was just one step away from being made into class A Ecstasy.

Butt was studying fuel cell technology and this year earned his doctorate at Waikato University and received a $30,000 Tainui study grant.

For the Crown, Susan Gray said aggravating features included the amount of drug found, evidence of its being in various stages of manufacture, and Butt having given Ecstasy to his flatmate.

She said that while Butt's operation might not have been of commercial strength, the $200 found was evidence of small-scale distribution.

She also contended that Butt's guilty plea was his only mitigating factor and that the starting point for sentence should be four years in jail.

In her submissions, Ms Dyhrberg painted a picture of a bright, promising man with strong family support.

Butt had first tried drugs aged 13 and became an addict. After his arrest he attended an Odyssey House rehabilitation course.

Ms Dyhrberg asked the judge to suspend any jail term and order him to attend a long-term Odyssey House course.

Her other submissions included:

* Butt's drug-making knowledge and access to equipment came from his studies rather than being gained specifically to make Ecstasy.

* There was no wide distribution.

* The $200 was not drug earnings.

* The amount of precursor substance found in the house should not be taken into account because it had not been used to make any Ecstasy.

* The different forms of the drug found in his house were from a single manufacture rather than many.

Justice Nicholson, who said Butt had no previous offences, rejected that the $200 found in Butt's house near the drugs was not drug earnings.

The judge said the courts had to deter drug taking, which meant it had to deter manufacture and distribution.

Butt's personal circumstances had "little place" in deciding the penalty.

After sentencing, Ms Dyhrberg told reporters that she accepted the prison term and thought an appeal was unlikely.

Meanwhile, Nelson coroner Ian Smith gave the warning about ecstasy at an inquest into the death of Nelson man Dai Gerard Bowden, ruling that Mr Bowden died in Nelson on March 18 after using Ecstasy.