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Police found drugs, stolen goods after bikie enforcer was shot, court told

 
The sergeant-at-arms of the Mongols motorcycle gang was found in possession of drugs and stolen goods worth tens of thousands of dollars after his fiancee drove him to hospital to have a gunshot wound treated, a court has heard.

Police found a bag of ecstasy tablets in Renee​ Comeadow's​ car on November 1 last year, when Sunshine Hospital staff alerted police after she took Shane Middleton in to have his leg wound treated, the County Court heard on Wednesday.

Police raid the Seabrook home of Shane Middleton and Renee​ Comeadow.

 Police raid the Seabrook home of Shane Middleton and Renee​ Comeadow.  Photo: Eddie Jim

The next day, prosecutor John Saunders said, police searched the couple's Seabrook home and found more ecstasy tablets, a silver handgun, a $16,000 motorcycle, a caravan worth $45,000 and a gold bracelet and necklace worth up to $30,000.

Mr Saunders said police uncovered of 652 grams of ecstasy tablets in their searches of the car and home.

Shane Middleton pleaded guilty to firearm and drug offences.

 Shane Middleton pleaded guilty to firearm and drug offences.  Photo: Eddie Jim

Middleton, 26, pleaded guilty to six charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence and firearms and proceeds of crime charges. Comeadow, 27, pleaded guilty to a single count of recklessly dealing with the suspected proceeds of crime.

The couple, who have a two-year-old daughter, were not charged over the incident that left Middleton wounded, and no explanation for how Middleton was wounded was given in court.

 

Defence counsel Christopher Farrington, for Middleton, said his client had been a talented baseballer in his youth who had attracted the interest of overseas scouts and had vowed not to drink alcohol or use drugs.

But he rebelled against his parents and school as a teenager and stopped playing sport, the court heard, and in his late teens was rocked by the death of a friend who was stabbed during a dispute among a group of friends.

Mr Farrington said Middleton lacked direction in life at that point and joined the motorcycle gang and rose through its ranks, around the same time he developed drug problems.

The lawyer acknowledged jail time was appropriate, but called for a long parole period to help his client address his drug and mental-health problems.

Judge Bill Stuart praised as insightful a letter sent to the court by Middleton's mother, who urged the judge to look beyond the "facade" of her son's facial tattoos and recognise his prospects for rehabilitation.

Middleton, who has spent 211 days n custody, will be sentenced on Thursday.

Judge Stuart put Comeadow on a 12-month good behaviour bond without conviction, as the latter would have harmed her hopes of working as a youth worker or in community services.

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