Rebel grandad busted grabbing meth from the post office

A GRANDFATHER intercepted picking up 29g of methamphetamine hidden in a parcel at a post office box was amid a "very late age rebellious stage" of life.

Graham Bruce Core, 69, was sentenced in Rockhampton Supreme Court yesterday after pleading guilty to possessing a dangerous drug in excess of two grams, possessing a dangerous drug and possessing drug utensils.

Defence barrister Scott Moon said his client had run his own cattle property and had worked as a taxi driver and at the meatworks before retiring in 2013, aged 63.

"Suprisingly, at a very late age he had a rebellious stage," Mr Moon said.

The court was told this ­rebellious stage included getting tattoos along with smoking meth and consuming cocaine.

Core had an unblemished record until 2006 when he was busted for drugs.

He then had a 12-year hiatus of going undetected before police discovered 6g of meth he had hidden in a jewellery box at a house he "stayed at overnight" in Park Ave along with three glass pipes hidden in a shoe on July 22 last year.

Justice Graeme Crow said Core first started using meth and speed in 2014 and had introduced three colleagues to drugs.

Four months later, police were notified by staff at the Red Hill Australia Post office of a suspicious package in a post office box.

Police found 29.05g of meth inside a box labelled "Motorcycle Bluetooth Kit" which was inside a package addressed to "G.P. Core".

They placed the drugs back in the parcel and a police ­officer went undercover, posing as an Australia Post employer.

When Core turned up 10 minutes later, the undercover officer handed him the parcel at Core's request and he was arrested outside the shop.

Core spent 379 days in pre-sentence custody, which was declared yesterday when he was sentenced to a four-year prison term.

He will be eligible for parole on April 26 next year.