A man heavily addicted to methamphetamine (P) has thanked the police for arresting him.
Randolph Terrence Bennett, 45, was sentenced to eight years' prison on Friday in the High Court at Rotorua for six Class A drug-related charges which included supplying, conspiracy to supply and manufacturing methamphetamine and cultivating cannabis.
These offences arose from Operation Harvest - a police sting last year which netted 12 people in the South Waikato region. Bennett, a father of four, had supplied at least 285g of methamphetamine and was part of a cannabis-growing setup that had potential to earn $173,000 a year.
Bennett addressed Justice Timothy Brewer before he was sentenced and gave an emotional apology to those his offending had hurt. He explained how he was a stonemason before he was made redundant and he then struggled to run his own firewood and pruning business.
"I was working 14-16 hours a day to make ends meet and my family and home life suffered," he said.