Convicted killer Matthew Spinks will spend a further two years behind bars for crimes committed during the same "downward spiral" which resulted in the murder of his friend Nathan Costello.
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Earlier this year Spinks was sentenced to 15 years jail for shooting Mr Costello on Valentines Day in 2018 in "revenge" after the two fell out.
The murder was the low point of Spinks' life outside the law, which included drug supply, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, blowing up a car and dealing a firearm.
It will be a very different world when he emerges
- Judge Andrew Haesler
He faced Wollongong District Court for sentence on Thursday. Judge Andrew Haesler said he had to balance the severity of Spinks' crimes against the weight of the 15-year-sentence he was already serving.
Judge Haesler gave Spinks an aggregate jail sentence of seven years and four months, with four years non-parole. This pushes Spinks' earliest parole date to March 2036.
Read more: Court/crime
Judge Andrew Haesler said those affected by Spinks' crimes "must understand that each additional year after 15 years custody has a greater impact than immediate imprisonment".
"It will be a very different world when he emerges," Judge Haesler said.
'Downward spiral'
In 2018, a 33-year-old Spinks was "unravelling."
Spinks began smoking meth at 18, but his use increased sharply after he was the victim of a stabbing in 2017.
He was very busy, and increasingly paranoid.
Spinks sold meth and MDA in league with others, in part to fund his own habit but also for profit, although Judge Haesler noted Spinks was constantly in debt, and his business was "disorganised".
A police phone tap revealed Spinks was not just selling drugs, he was also storing stolen cars for his criminal mates, dealing in illegal firearms.
On one occasion he supplied two friends with a shotgun, knowing they intended to use it as part of an ongoing conflict between one of the men and his partner.
The court heard the shotgun and a stolen RAV-4 were later used by the two men in a drive-by shooting.
While Spinks did not steal the RAV-4, he did later set fire to it in bushland at Berkeley, alongside a stolen Audi.
When police arrived they found the RAV-4 well alight, and the Audi footwell was packed with explosives and detonators.
Police had begun to close in on Spinks.
In phone taps, officers heard Spinks' up-line drug supplier warning him detectives were on the case.
As the police pressure mounted Spinks' was overheard complaining about a camera mounted on a neighbouring property, and secret recording devices in his home.
He eventually found and destroyed one such device.
Spinks' crime spree came to an end in July 2018 when he was arrested for the murder of Costello. He has been in custody ever since.
The court was told since he had been incarcerated, a childhood friend of Spinks, who was also in jail, was stabbed and killed.
Another friend in prison committed suicide, and his mother passed away in 2020.
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