A handwritten note from his mother was not enough for a lighter sentence for a former Dapto ice dealer.
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Daniel Mathew Brett, 37, tried out his skills as a lawyer in Wollongong District Court on Friday, July 22 in an attempt to have his sentence reduced.
Brett had pleaded guilty to starting a police pursuit, driving furiously in a dangerous manner, using an offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention and supplying a prohibited drug on May 25 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Having previously represented himself in another matter and been successful in reducing his sentence, Brett tried his luck again on Friday, but this time to no avail.
Brett appealed the severity of his sentence for a high speed police chase and drug bust in April.
On April 20, police were carrying out surveillance on a known drug den in West Wollongong.
Police saw Brett pull up in a Nissan Tiida outside the address before a man came out of the stash house and put an item in Brett's car.
Brett then began driving out of the cul de sac street towards where police were parked.
Brett stopped his car at the police vehicle and police got out of the car and approached Brett.
Brett then put the car in reverse and sped away from police.
Police followed Brett towards the end of the dead-end street where the cars ended up nose-to-nose.
Revving the engine and with the rear wheels mounting the kerb, Brett was able to manoeuvre around the police car and sped back down the street.
A waiting police officer attempted to get Brett to stop by drawing his gun as Brett drove towards him, before he had to throw himself out of harm's way to avoid being run over.
Brett then drove south on the Princes Highway at Figtree. With police behind him, Brett pulled a u-turn at the roundabout at Gibsons Road and headed north.
Police followed in pursuit before Brett did another u-turn at the intersection of O'Briens Road.
Brett drove into oncoming traffic in an attempt to get the police off his tail, forcing drivers to pull onto the footpath to get out of the way.
With the chase posing a danger to police and motorists, police called off the pursuit.
On May 10, police searched an address in Avondale where they found Brett.
After arresting him, police found a bumbag with a small clear plastic container with three smaller plastic resealable bags inside. The bags contained what police thought to be methamphetamine.
After taking Brett to Lake Illawarra police station, police found he was carrying 6.23 grams of meth and his phone was buzzing with messages from his clients looking to get their fix.
Appearing in Wollongong District Court via video link, Brett sought to have his release date brought forward from January 2023 with a letter from his long-suffering mother.
Judge Andrew Haesler read snippets of the letter in court, which outlined Brett's history with drugs and a commitment to get clean by going into rehabilitation.
Unmoved, Justice Haesler noted Brett got the "absolute minimum" he deserved.
"When I read the facts in your case and how serious it was, I thought 'Gee, this is the lightest penalty that could possibly be imposed.' I probably would have at least doubled it," Justice Haesler said.
"You didn't just put yourself in danger, you put two police officers in serious danger. You also put a significant number of people of Figtree and West Wollongong in danger by your driving and that deserved punishment."
After Justice Haesler dismissed the appeal, Brett could be seen on the screen in court waving to his mother.
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