In court: Goulburn man jailed for string of offences, forged prescriptions

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three charges of utter forged/altered prescription, stalk/intimidate intend fear physical harm, two counts of contravene an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO), larceny, drive motor vehicle while disqualified, and driver state false name. He appeared before Goulburn Local Court via audio visual link on June 30.

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Magistrate Geraldine Beattie told the court the offences occurred between September 2020 and May 2021.

She said the man had used a fake prescription to obtain 50 Diazepam tablets from a Goulburn pharmacy. She said he had also attempted to obtain Fentanyl and Lorazapam using forged prescriptions at other pharmacies in Goulburn. She said a chemist had suspicions and rang the man's doctor who confirmed the prescriptions were forged.

Magistrate Beattie told the court the man had then "got somebody to ring up and pretend they were from the Drug and Alcohol Service" to try and get the drugs.

She said the "most serious offence" occurred in November, 2020.

"[The victim] has gone to bed, when she wakes up there is a threat written on the fridge," she said.

The magistrate told the court the note was "talking about [how] her family would be set on fire".

The other charges related to various offences.

The magistrate said that on January 12 the man stole a Samsung phone from a club in Goulburn, while on April 21 he was caught driving with a licence disqualified until 2028.

She said the offender was brought to the attention of police when he drove through a stop sign.

"Then when police stopped you, you gave them your dead cousins' name," Magistrate Beattie said.

The magistrate outlined various AVO breaches to the court, including an occasion where a child was "the only honest person" and told police the offender was hiding in the kitchen.

Solicitor Rod Boyd urged the magistrate to consider an Intensive Corrections Order rather than imprisonment for his client.

"Research has shown that short prison sentences do nothing in terms of stopping re-offending," he said.

Mr Boyd told the court his client had an "ongoing battle" with drug addiction.

In sentencing, the magistrate acknowledged the offender had spent two months in rehab and had been on remand since May 4, 2021.

The man was sentenced to jail - back dated to the time of arrest - and received a 12-month Community Corrections Order, fined $300 and disqualified from driving for a further six months. With parole he will be eligible for release on July 3, 2021.

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