Judge slams fine alone for drug offenders

District Court judge Ronald Birmingham has slammed magistrates for handing out fines for simple drug possession charges, believing more should be dealt harsher sentences and forced into treatment.

"It just astonishes me how people can repeatedly appear before the courts, the lower courts, for drug-related offending and be dealt with by way of a fine instead of being referred to treatment," he said.

"And perhaps if a few more people got suspended jail terms or conditionally suspended jail terms for drug paraphernalia and for simple possessions they might actually go to treatment early."

Judge Birmingham made the comments last Friday when sentencing Albany man Joshua Mark Tomlinson to five years' jail for a crime spree which included the theft of an automatic teller machine from Gnowangerup that left a damage bill of almost $100,000.

Tomlinson, 42, owed a significant drug debt from methamphetamine addiction when he broke into an Albany engineering firm and stole an F250 ute before driving to Gnowangerup, stealing a backhoe loader from the Shire depot and using it to steal the ANZ ATM just after midnight on December 21 last year.

He loaded the ATM containing $50,000 onto the ute and drove to a paddock 6 km from the town site and unsuccessfully attempted to open it, including tying it to a tree and ramming it with the ute, causing $30,000 damage to the vehicle.

The court heard his burglary spree started in November last year and continued into early January this year.

Tomlinson pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary, two counts of stealing, two counts of stealing a motor vehicle and five counts of receiving stolen or unlawfully obtained property.

Sentencing him in the District Court in Perth, Judge Birmingham lamented Tomlinson had not received prior treatment, despite his criminal record of drug-related matters in the past.

"If this man had been offered that facility back in 2014 he probably wouldn't be where he is today," he said.

Defence counsel Aidan Kraus said drug use was central to Tomlinson's offending and had been "ramped up significantly" as he tried to keep the family business from collapsing after his father became ill.

Mr Kraus said his client also needed $10,000 for dentures to replace his teeth which had rotted away from drug use.

"I believe he was using $300 a day, he instructs, of methylamphetamine," he said.

Judge Birmingham said the impact on the Gnowangerup community on the eve of last Christmas was considerable.

"It was a crude attempt at robbing a bank with a considerable degree of planning and forethought," he said.

"It was a crime spree that left considerable damage in its wake.

"Businesses were disrupted.

"There's obviously hardship on victims."

Tomlinson was also ordered to repay damages of $92,132 and was made eligible for parole after three years.