Maksimovic v The State of Western Australia

[2024] WASCA 76

JURISDICTION     :   SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

TITLE OF COURT  :   THE COURT OF APPEAL (WA)

CITATION:   MAKSIMOVIC -v- THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA [2024] WASCA 76

CORAM:   BUSS P

VAUGHAN JA

LUNDBERG J

HEARD:   3 OCTOBER 2023

DELIVERED          :   28 JUNE 2024

FILE NO/S:   CACR 63 of 2022

BETWEEN:   NIKOLA MAKSIMOVIC

Appellant

AND

THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Respondent

ON APPEAL FROM:

Jurisdiction              :   SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Coram:   DERRICK J

File Number            :   INS 26 of 2020

Catchwords:

Criminal law - Appeal against conviction - Appellant convicted after trial of attempting to possess a trafficable quantity of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply it to another - Whether the verdict of guilty is unreasonable, or cannot be supported, having regard to the evidence

Legislation:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA), s 6(1)(a), s 33(1), s 34(1)(a)

Result:

Leave to appeal granted
Appeal dismissed

Category:    B

Representation:

Counsel:

Appellant	:	B W Walker SC & T F Woods
Respondent	:	G N Beggs

Solicitors:

Appellant	:	Zahr Partners
Respondent	:	Director of Public Prosecutions (WA)

Case(s) referred to in decision(s):

BCM v The Queen [2013] HCA 48; (2013) 88 ALJR 101

Dansie v The Queen [2022] HCA 25; (2022) 274 CLR 651

Fitzgerald v The Queen [2014] HCA 28; (2014) 88 ALJR 779

GAX v The Queen [2017] HCA 25; (2017) 91 ALJR 698

Lau v The State of Western Australia [2017] WASCA 16; (2017) 264 A Crim R 478

M v The Queen [1994] HCA 63; (1994) 181 CLR 487

Morris v The Queen [1987] HCA 50; (1987) 163 CLR 454

NCH v The State of Western Australia [2013] WASCA 29

Pell v The Queen [2020] HCA 12; (2020) 268 CLR 123

R v Baden‑Clay [2016] HCA 35; (2016) 258 CLR 308

R v Hillier [2007] HCA 13; (2007) 228 CLR 618

R v Nguyen [2010] HCA 38; (2010) 242 CLR 491

SKA v The Queen [2011] HCA 13; (2011) 243 CLR 400

Stevens v The Queen [2005] HCA 65; (2005) 227 CLR 319

WCW v The State of Western Australia [2008] WASCA 232; (2008) 191 A Crim R 22

Williams v Smith [1960] HCA 22; (1960) 103 CLR 539

Zaburoni v The Queen [2016] HCA 12; (2016) 256 CLR 482

Contents

Overview of the offending as alleged by the State

Overview of the State's case at trial

The State's case concerning the use of code names

The evidence at the trial

The appellant's admissions pursuant to s 32 of the Evidence Act 1906 (WA)

Mr Steuer's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross-examination

Re-examination

Mr Andreas' evidence at trial

Examination-in-chief

Cross-examination

Mr Pickles' evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Mr Hodge's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Ms Pashby's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Mr Hatton's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Ms Burton's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Mr De Simoni's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Re‑examination

Covert Operative 781's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Mr Wilson's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Detective Senior Constable Psaila‑Borrie's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Covert Operative 913's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Covert Operative 401's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Covert Operative 808's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Covert Operative 876's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Senior Constable Pearsall's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Detective Senior Constable Wood's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Detective First Class Constable Prince's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Mr Kerr's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Detective Senior Constable McDougall's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Detective Senior Constable Cusack's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

First Class Constable Kelly's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Ms Cooper's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Re‑examination

Senior Constable Jenkins' evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Re‑examination

Mr Butler's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Detective Senior Sergeant Taylor's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Re‑examination

Sergeant Lyon's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

Mr Newton's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

Cross‑examination

The ground of appeal: applicable legal principles

The ground of appeal: the particulars of the ground

The ground of appeal: the trial judge's directions and comments in relation to Mr Steuer's evidence

The ground of appeal: the acceptance of all, part or none of a witness's evidence

The ground of appeal: senior counsel for the appellant's submissions

The ground of appeal: counsel for the State's submissions

The ground of appeal: its merits

Conclusion

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT:

1. This is an appeal against conviction.

2. The appellant, Nikola Maksimovic, was charged on indictment with two co‑accused.

3. Count 1 in the indictment alleged that on or about 10 May 2019, at Perth and elsewhere in Western Australia, Quinn Newton and Jason Gray attempted to supply a prohibited drug, namely methylamphetamine, to another, and that the offence involved a trafficable quantity of methylamphetamine, contrary to s 6(1)(c), read with s 33(1) and s 34(1)(a), of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA) (the MD Act).

4. Count 2 alleged that on or about 10 May 2019, at Perth and elsewhere in Western Australia, the appellant attempted to possess a prohibited drug, namely methylamphetamine, with intent to sell or supply it to another, and that the offence involved a trafficable quantity of methylamphetamine, contrary to s 6(1)(a), read with s 33(1) and s 34(1)(a), of the MD Act.

5. On 28 March 2022, after a joint trial before Derrick J and a jury, Mr Newton and Mr Gray were convicted of count 1 and the appellant was convicted of count 2.

6. On 29 June 2022, the trial judge sentenced the appellant to 24 years' imprisonment.  The sentence was backdated to 3 June 2021 to take account of time the appellant had spent in custody solely in relation to the offence.  A parole eligibility order was made.

7. The appellant appeals against his conviction on the sole ground that the verdict of guilty is unreasonable, or cannot be supported, having regard to the evidence.

8. We would grant leave to appeal on the sole ground.  However, the ground has not been made out.  The appeal must be dismissed.

Overview of the offending as alleged by the State

1. An overview of the offending as alleged by the State is as follows.

2. In the early hours of 9 May 2019, a freight train operated by Pacific National arrived in Perth.  The train had travelled from Melbourne via Adelaide.  The freight on the train included a container which Mr Newton and Mr Gray had arranged to be transported to Perth.  They made the arrangements through a business called 7 Roads Logistics which they operated.  The container was to be delivered to a self‑storage unit in Belmont hired by Mr Gray.  Inside the container were quantities of carpet underlay, bubble wrap and insulation.  Hidden beneath those items were three black storage tubs.  In the tubs were black plastic garbage bags containing cryovaced packages of methylamphetamine.  The total quantity of methylamphetamine was 55.9 kg.  Police intercepted the methylamphetamine.  They replaced the drug with an inert substance and reconstructed the packaging before putting the inert substance in the tubs and returning the tubs to the container.

3. On 10 May 2019, Mr Gray removed the black storage tubs from the container and transported them to a car park at the Bunnings Warehouse in Belmont.  James Parker collected the tubs on behalf of a drug trafficking syndicate.  Mr Parker took the tubs to the home of Samuel Steuer at 7 Little Lake Rise, South Lake.  Mr Steuer was a warehouseman for the syndicate.  Police entered Mr Steuer's home and apprehended Mr Parker and Mr Steuer.  Police also apprehended Aaron Legg, another member of the syndicate, who had been travelling to Mr Steuer's home to collect the methylamphetamine.  Mr Legg saw police entering Mr Steuer's home and he attempted to flee.

4. The syndicate communicated mainly through Samsung mobile telephone handsets.  The encryption software 'Ciphr' had been installed in the handsets.  The software enabled users of the handsets to communicate with increased security that was designed to counteract police surveillance and interception.  A significant feature of the Ciphr software involved the use of 'handles' or usernames by which the users could identify each other.

5. It was not in dispute at trial that the user of the Ciphr handle 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' or 'EBP' was the head of the syndicate.  The State alleged that the appellant was 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' or 'EBP'.

6. After he was arrested and charged, Mr Steuer cooperated with police.  Mr Steuer gave evidence as a State witness at the trial of the appellant, Mr Newton and Mr Gray.  Proof of the State's case against the appellant relied upon an acceptance by the jury of Mr Steuer's evidence.  Mr Steuer gave evidence about the syndicate's operations.  He identified numerous members of the syndicate, including the appellant, whom Mr Steuer had known before he became involved with the syndicate.  Mr Steuer was convicted in relation to his involvement with the attempted possession of the 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine.  His total effective sentence of 16 years' imprisonment was reduced, by 5 years, to 11 years' imprisonment on account of his undertaking to give evidence as a State witness at the trial of the appellant, Mr Newton, Mr Gray and other members of the syndicate.

Overview of the State's case at trial

1. An overview of the State's case at trial is as follows.

2. As at May 2019, Mr Newton and Mr Gray had known each other for about 22 years.  Mr Gray had been married to Mr Newton's sister for some time.  After the marriage broke down, Mr Newton and Mr Gray kept in contact and remained friends.  In 2012 or 2013 Mr Gray moved from Queensland to Melbourne (ts 1689 ‑ 1690).

3. Mr Newton created the company Seven Roads Pty Ltd in 2016, as the entity behind the business 7 Roads Logistics, and was the sole director, shareholder and secretary of the company (ts 1691 ‑ 1694, 1487, 1571, 1799; Exhibit 79).  Its registered office was listed as Unit 8, 116 ‑ 120 West Botany Street, Arncliffe, New South Wales which was Mr Newton's parents' address (ts 1488, 1760).  In late 2017 or early 2018, Mr Gray became involved in 7 Roads Logistics, although he remained resident in Melbourne.  In June 2018, Mr Gray became a co‑signer on banking transactions for the company (ts 1702).

4. On the State's case, by 2019 at the latest, 7 Roads Logistics was nothing more than a sham company.  No discernible trade was conducted by the company and no income was recorded.  No tax returns were lodged for the 2018, 2019 or 2020 financial years (ts 1487 ‑ 1496; Exhibit 74; Exhibit 75).

5. In November 2017, 7 Roads Logistics opened an account with Pacific National.  Mr Newton and Mr Gray were recorded as the contact people (ts 619).  Pacific National is one of two interstate rail transport companies in Australia with facilities in each major city and elsewhere in the country (ts 598 ‑ 600).  Emails produced from Pacific National's databases recorded correspondence with Mr Newton and Mr Gray in respect of the transport of freight containers from Melbourne to Perth in April and May 2019.  On Tuesday 30 April 2019, Mr Newton emailed Pacific National (with a copy to Mr Gray) to make a booking for a 20‑foot container on the train service from Melbourne to Perth departing on 2 May 2019.  This booking was twice cancelled and rescheduled by Mr Newton and Mr Gray.  Ultimately, the booking was rescheduled for the train departing Melbourne on Monday 6 May 2019 (ts 620 ‑ 624; Exhibit 2; ts 625 ‑ 628; Exhibit 3). A container with the unique identifier RWLU8140643 was left at the Pacific National terminal in Melbourne on Monday 6 May 2019 and transported to Perth (ts 633 ‑ 635).

6. On Wednesday 8 May 2019, Mr Newton flew from Sydney to Perth. An associate, Joshua Kelaita, flew from Sydney to Perth shortly afterwards on a separate flight.  On the same day, Mr Gray flew from Melbourne to Perth (ts 674 ‑ 676; Exhibit 14; Exhibit 15; Exhibit 16).  The men were under covert police surveillance from the time they arrived in Perth.  Mr Newton exited the airport terminal at 3.49 pm and walked to a Toyota Kluger vehicle that he had hired from Avis Car Rental (Exhibit 98, entry 1, 2; ts 679 ‑ 683; Exhibit 17).  He then returned to the airport terminal where he met Mr Kelaita and collected a bag from the baggage terminal.  Mr Newton and Mr Kelaita drove from the airport to the Storage King facility in Belmont, arriving at 4.19pm.  They remained at Storage King until 5.02 pm when they drove to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in East Perth, arriving at 5.28 pm (Exhibit 98, entry 4 ‑ 20).  Mr Gray was seen exiting the Perth airport terminal at 5.30 pm and travelling to the Aloft Hotel in Rivervale (Exhibit 98, entry 21, 26).  Mr Newton and Mr Kelaita checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Mr Gray checked into the Aloft Hotel.  Mr Gray then went to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, arriving at 6.53 pm and remaining until about 10.40 pm when he returned to the Aloft Hotel (Exhibit 98, entry 37, 48, 53).

7. The freight container RWLU8140643 arrived in Perth on Thursday 9 May 2019.  At the request of police, upon the container arriving at the Perth freight terminal at Kewdale, it was removed from the train immediately and placed on the ground so that police could check its contents (ts 635 ‑ 636).  At about 4.00 am on Thursday 9 May 2019, officers from the Organised Crime Squad associated with Operation Trident Coyote attended at Pacific National's facility in Kewdale to execute a search warrant on the freight container.  The search was recorded on video and photographs were taken during the search (ts 745 ‑ 748; Exhibit 32; Exhibit 28.1 ‑ 28.16).  The container was sealed and secured by a seal lock and a combination padlock. The seal lock had to be cut from the container to be removed. Inside the container, police located rolls of bubble wrap, insulation and carpet underlay.  As these items were removed, three black storage tubs that had been concealed amongst the other items were revealed (Exhibit 28.1 ‑ 28.16).

8. The three black storage tubs were opened and found to contain a number of black plastic garbage bags.  These bags in turn contained smaller packages, some of which were clear cryovac bags, and others were in packaging purporting to be herbal tea or similar products (ts 760 ‑ 764; Exhibit 31.1 ‑ 31.30).  These smaller packages contained a white crystal substance that was later identified to be in total 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine with an average purity of 80.91% (ts 770 ‑ 772; Exhibit 33.1 ‑ 33.59; ts 772 ‑ 773; Exhibit 34).

9. Once the items had been removed from the shipping container, police carried out a substitution procedure.  They reconstructed or replicated the seized packages with an innocuous substance.  Police used reference photographs to ensure that the packages were recreated as close to their original appearance as possible and that they were placed in the same location in the freight container with the same items around them (ts 764 ‑ 766; Exhibit 32).  A new seal lock was obtained from Pacific National to replace the one removed by police.  Police maintained surveillance on the freight container (ts 1572 ‑ 1573).

10. Meanwhile, Mr Newton had emailed an employee of Swan Towing and arranged for container RWLU8140643 to be collected from Pacific National's facility in Kewdale on Thursday 9 May 2019 and transported to the Storage King facility in Belmont.  At 4.54 am on Thursday 9 May 2019, Mr Newton emailed Swan Towing and provided them with the unique release code that had to be given to Pacific National in order for the container to be released to Swan Towing (ts 659 ‑ 667, Exhibit 12).  Swan Towing collected the container at 9.07 am on 9 May 2019 and delivered it to the Storage King facility (ts 636 ‑ 637, 1572 ‑ 1573).

11. At 10.34 am on Thursday 9 May 2019, Mr Gray walked from the Aloft Hotel to Budget Car and Truck Rental in Burswood where he hired a white Hyundai panel van with the registration plate 1GJE 286 (the Hyundai panel van) (Exhibit 98, entry 57 ‑ 59; ts 684 ‑ 689; Exhibit 18).  Mr Gray then drove to McDonald's in Ascot.  Subsequently, Mr Newton and Mr Kelaita arrived at the McDonald's, with Mr Kelaita getting out and meeting Mr Gray.  Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita left shortly afterwards, travelling in the Hyundai panel van.  Mr Newton also left shortly afterwards, travelling to the State Rehabilitation Service at Fiona Stanley Hospital where he visited a friend (Exhibit 98, entry 62 ‑ 63, 66 ‑ 69, 81; ts 787 ‑ 788).

12. Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita went to the Bunnings Warehouse in Belmont where Mr Gray purchased gloves.  Next, they went to Kmart in the Belmont Forum Shopping Centre where they purchased a clipboard, notepad and stationery (Exhibit 98, entry 71, 75).  Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita then drove to the Storage King facility.  At Storage King they approached the freight container that had been delivered by Swan Towing at 12.17 pm, but did not open it (Exhibit 98, entry 84; Exhibit 80).  At 12.19 pm, Mr Newton used a mobile telephone (Exhibit 98, entry 85; Exhibit 35, photograph P1).  On the State's case, at this time Mr Gray noticed that the seal lock on the container was different from the one he had placed there, and he contacted Mr Newton to inform him of the difference.

13. Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita left the Storage King facility and drove to Bristile Park on Great Eastern Highway where they sat on a park bench between 12.25 pm and 1.33 pm.  During that time, Mr Newton was at Fiona Stanley Hospital and was using a mobile telephone on various occasions during that period (Exhibit 98, entry 86 ‑ 93).  Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita spent some additional time sitting in parks before separating, with Mr Kelaita returning to the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  Mr Newton, Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita met for dinner at a restaurant in Highgate later that evening before returning to the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Exhibit 98, entry 133 ‑ 140).

14. On 10 May 2019, Mr Gray travelled in the Hyundai panel van to the Storage King facility and entered through the secure gates.  He parked near a freight container at 8.30 am before going into the front office and then returning to the container at 8.41 am.  At 8.46 am, Mr Gray opened the container doors and unloaded rolls of carpet underlay onto a trolley.  At 9.36am, he reversed the van next to the container and, on the State's case, loaded the black storage tubs into the van.  At 9.40am, he drove the van from Storage King (Exhibit 98, entry 150, 152, 154, 156, 158 ‑ 167).

15. The State's case was that the appellant was the head of the syndicate.  The syndicate took possession of the substance located in the black storage tubs, which it believed was methylamphetamine.  The syndicate members used Ciphr enabled devices to communicate with each other.  Later on 10 May 2019, police seized Mr Legg's Ciphr enabled device and took photographs of messages and chats in the device.  By this method, police were able to ascertain that Mr Legg was using the handle 'Tempa' and that he was involved in a group chat called 'Delivery'.  The 'Delivery' group chat had six members, namely: Beermonster; EBP (who was designated as the owner of the chat); EllenDegenerate (who was designated as a chat admin); Gary Garry Beers; Hollaway; and Tempa (ts 948 ‑ 964; Exhibit 47.39 ‑ 47.55).  'Alts', who was referred to in the chat, was alleged to be an abbreviation of the handle 'Alterman', which was used by Mr Steuer.

16. The following exchange took place on the 'Delivery' Ciphr chat at about the time Mr Gray unloaded the carpet underlay from the freight container (Exhibit 47.50 ‑ 47.54):

9.02 am	EBP:	Brickie u online bro
9.03 am	Beermonster:	Yes bro
EBP:	Bro there grabbing work atm How long before u can be ready to collect
Beermonster:	Hour
9.04 am	EBP:	Ok cool Need a spot in Belmont To meet him Carlisle oval I reocn
9.05 am	EBP:	Off orong rd
Beermonster:	Yeah Ok, wats there, cricket ground
EBP:	Footy and cricket Carlisle cougar h8me ground
9.06 am	Beermonster:	Yeah ok.
9.07 am	EBP:	Be there for 10am
9.08 am	Beermonster:	Ok
9.11 am	EBP:	Don't forget the 142.5k aswell bro
9.12 am	Hollaway:	bricky, what we spoke about. straight back to alts house. give us a count. let us know how many green tea and how many clear there are bro
9.23 am	EBP:	From alts Lords delivery is first
9.26 am	Beermonster:	Ok

1. At 9.43 am, Mr Gray parked the Hyundai panel van in the Cash City car park on Abernethy Road, Belmont where he appeared to be looking at a mobile telephone.  He then drove to the Bunnings car park on the corner of Abernethy and Alexander Roads, Belmont.  At 9.46 am, Mr Gray parked the Hyundai panel van in the northeastern corner of the car park.  At 9.56 am, he got out of the van, locked it and appeared to place the keys on the rear right tyre before heading into Bunnings (Exhibit 98, entry 168 ‑ 171).

2. The following exchange took place on the 'Delivery' Ciphr chat (Exhibit 47.54 ‑ 47.55):

9.47 am	EBP:	Brukcie Head to yiur normal Bunnings Spots got changed
9.54 am	EBP:	Van at garden centre end of carpark. Looks all clear to me here.
9.55 am	EBP:	Keys under tyre
10.09 am	Beermonster:	I'll head there now
EBP:	Leave the loot in the back and key back under tyre
10.10 am	Beermonster:	ok

1. At 10.47 am, covert police surveillance observed a vehicle with the registration plate 1GRR 114 arrive at the Bunnings car park and park in the bay adjacent to the Hyundai panel van.  Mr Parker was the sole occupant of vehicle 1GRR 114.  He got out of vehicle 1GRR 114 and appeared to be looking for a key underneath the wheel arches of the Hyundai panel van.  He then unlocked the Hyundai panel van, opened the sliding doors of both vehicles and was seen transferring black storage tubs from the rear of the Hyundai panel van into the rear of vehicle 1GRR 114.  At 10.53 am, Mr Parker appeared to place keys on the right rear tyre of the Hyundai panel van and then drove away in vehicle 1GRR 114 (Exhibit 98, entry 178 ‑ 182).

2. At 10.59 am, Mr Gray returned to the Hyundai panel van, retrieved the keys from the rear right tyre, unlocked the van, got in and drove away.  He stopped and parked briefly on Daly Street where he got out and opened the rear door of the van momentarily before closing the door and driving away (Exhibit 98, entry 188 ‑ 190).  On the State's case, Mr Gray was checking to ensure that the black storage tubs had been collected and that payment or 'loot' had been left in their place.

3. Vehicle 1GRR 114 driven by Mr Parker travelled to 7 Little Lake Rise, South Lake under covert police surveillance (Exhibit 98, entry 185 ‑ 187, 191 ‑ 192, 194).

4. On the State's case, the clear inference to be drawn from the Ciphr 'Delivery' chat, Mr Parker's arrival at the Bunnings car park and his subsequent journey to Mr Steuer's residence is that Mr Parker was the user of the Ciphr handle 'Beermonster', also referred to as 'Brickie'.  This was confirmed by Mr Steuer's evidence and his digiboard identification of Mr Parker (ts 1081 ‑ 1082, 1109, 1620; MFI H/Exhibit 92).

5. Examination of Mr Legg's Ciphr device revealed that during that morning there was an exchange of direct messages between Tempa (Mr Legg) and the handle Hollaway.  Hollaway messaged Tempa to see if he was awake because there were 'heapa deliveries today'.  Hollaway spoke of 'the boss going a bit mental' and referred to Hollaway's job being 'hard' because he had to 'deal and sort with so much shit'.  Hollaway asked Tempa to be up and ready to go, so that when Hollaway gave the word, Tempa could be at 'Alts' within 30 minutes.  Hollaway indicated that Tempa would be doing '10 to one location, 10 to another, 2 to another'.  Hollaway told Tempa to wear work clothes, and go to Bunnings to buy about 4 boxes of different sizes, to take them to 'Alts' and to put 10 kegs in one box, 10 in another and 2 in another.  Hollaway said that wearing work clothes and taking in a box looks 'normal' and not 'sus'.  Hollaway reminded Tempa to wear gloves 'as soon as [he gets] to Alts'.  Tempa agreed and later indicated that he was 'ready to go'.  Hollaway told Tempa to leave his normal telephone in the car and always imagine that police are listening to his iPhone (ts 1033 ‑ 1054; Exhibit 47.112 ‑ 47.132).

6. At 11.25 am, vehicle 1GRR 114 arrived and parked in the carport at 7 Little Lake Rise, South Lake (Exhibit 98, entry 194).  Mr Parker took two of the black storage tubs into the house.  Mr Steuer offered to assist with bringing in the items.  Mr Steuer brought in one tub.  Mr Parker and Mr Steuer proceeded to unpack the tubs and to lay out the smaller packages, count them and take photographs to send to Ethnic Brad Pitt/EBP as had been requested (when Hollaway told Beermonster to do a count and tell them how many 'green tea' and how many 'clear' there were) (ts 1096 ‑ 1099).

7. At 11.31 am, police arrived at 7 Little Lake Rise.  A number of officers approached and entered the house.  Mr Parker and Mr Steuer were arrested inside the house.  At 11.32 am, police observed an orange BMW 1 series hatchback, with the registration plate 1EKA 854, approaching 7 Little Lake Rise before conducting a U‑turn and driving away (Exhibit 98, entry 195 ‑ 196).

8. At 11.41 am, the following messages were exchanged between Tempa and Hollaway (ts 1033 ‑ 1051; Exhibit 47.133 ‑ 47.139):

11.41 am	Tempa:	Dud cops everywhere Alts done
Hollaway:	what
11.42 am	Tempa:	About 6 undercover cop cars
Hollaway:	there is always under covers around
Tempa:	Matevtheyre outside his house
Hollaway:	What bro what outside alts
11.43 am	Tempa:	Bro I had to turn around Fucking heaps of then
Hollaway:	cunt no
Tempa:	I don't even wanna go back
11.44 am	Hollaway:	go home
11.45 am	so cops every where outside his houae fuck me cunt
11.46 am	are you sure directly outside of his
Tempa:	Bro I drove in his street 3 cars there 8 cops got out I turned around then two more cars rocked up all under cover yeah then they ran to his house
Hollaway:	go home
Tempa:	Fuck me cunts
11.47 am	If I was 5 mins early I would have been fucked
11.51 am	Hollaway:	go home bury the phone
11.52 am	Tempa:	Mate alt had cameras outside his house I hope not recording
Hollaway:	no he turns off

1. Some further messages were exchanged in which Hollaway directed Tempa not to use the telephone and to 'bury it', and not to message Hollaway's 'normal phone' at all (ts 1051 ‑ 1054; Exhibit 47.139 ‑ 47.141).

2. At 12.11 pm, Mr Legg was stopped by police in Golden Bay.  He was arrested and his Ciphr device was seized (Exhibit 98, entry 198).

3. Mr Steuer identified the user of the handle 'Hollaway' as Dayle Campbell (ts 1094, 1108, 1619; MFI F/Exhibit 90).

4. At 12.32 pm, less than an hour after Mr Legg (Tempa) notified Hollaway 'Alts done', Mr Gray's Ciphr device was remotely wiped ‑ a security feature that could be enabled on Ciphr devices to ensure that a telephone could be wiped even if the telephone was in the physical possession of someone else (ts 1417, 1457 ‑ 1458).  At 1.15 pm, Mr Steuer's Ciphr device was remotely wiped (ts 1462).  At 1.33 pm, Mr Gray was seen standing on the street outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel using a mobile telephone.  He then walked across the road and sat on a park bench in Langley Park, where at 1.38 pm he was joined by Mr Newton.  They remained seated on the park bench, engaged in discussion, until 1.56 pm (Exhibit 98, entry 205 ‑ 207, 214).

5. At 6.10 pm, Mr Gray, Mr Newton and Mr Kelaita arrived together at the Storage King facility in Belmont where they were observed moving some items in the shipping container.  They then travelled together to the Aloft Hotel at 6.39 pm, where Mr Newton and Mr Gray went inside.  At 6.59 pm, Mr Newton was seen leaving the Aloft Hotel carrying a plastic shopping bag (Exhibit 98, entry 225 ‑ 228).  When police entered Mr Newton's room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel later that evening, the bag was located in the room safe.  It contained $59,950 cash.  A further $5,950 cash was located in a pair of tracksuit pants belonging to Mr Kelaita (ts 1227 ‑ 1229; Exhibit 57.18 ‑ 57.20; Exhibit 57.24 ‑ 57.25; Exhibit 58).  When police entered Mr Gray's hotel room at the Aloft Hotel that same evening, they located eight bundles of cash totalling $70,950 (ts 1210 ‑ 1212; Exhibit 54).  Mr Newton, Mr Gray and Mr Kelaita were arrested.

6. On Friday 11 May 2019, at about 12.10 pm, the appellant and Mr Campbell purchased return air tickets from Perth to Thailand via Singapore.  They were captured on CCTV footage together at Perth International Airport at 12.42 pm that day and departed on the flight to Thailand via Singapore at about 2.05 pm that day.  The appellant was due to return to Perth on the purchased return flight on 21 May 2019, but failed to board that flight (ts 591 ‑ 593; Exhibit 1).  The State relied on this evidence of flight as 'consciousness of guilt' evidence.

7. On 18 July 2019, police conducted a traffic stop on a BMW vehicle being driven by the appellant's wife, Ellie Sutherland.  Ms Sutherland was the sole occupant of the vehicle.  Police seized two mobile telephones, one of which was a Ciphr enabled Samsung device.  Ms Sutherland provided the passcode to the Ciphr enabled device, allowing police to gain access to it.  Photographs were taken of all the messages.  The handle attributed to the user of this telephone was 'Wifey'.  There were six contacts stored in the telephone under the handles 'Butterbean', 'Deadpool', 'Eagle', 'Ginger Bread Man', 'Gingerbreadman' and 'New CID F56039BD'.  Sergeant Raimon Lyon was able to view the chat dialogue between 'Wifey' and 'Gingerbreadman'.  'Gingerbreadman' sent 'Wifey' a number of 'selfie' photographs, all showing the appellant. 'Gingerbreadman' also sent some screenshots of a realty listing for a property in Vietnam and a series of messages about the property including 'Be nice for us.  Perfect really in a small secure complex' (ts 1594 ‑ 1603; Exhibit 86.1 ‑ 86.23).  The State alleged that Ms Sutherland was 'Wifey' and the appellant was 'Gingerbreadman'.

8. On the State's case, the appellant's possession of a Ciphr device was relevant because it demonstrated that he had access to the same type of device as those used by the syndicate, and because he was using an encrypted device whilst in Thailand which demonstrated a desire to evade detection.  This tended to negate any suggestion that his time in Thailand was for any other purpose than evading police in respect of the 55.9kg of methylamphetamine brought into Western Australia by Mr Newton and Mr Gray.

9. The Ciphr device and the chats contained on it also provided two important links between the appellant and the syndicate.  First, the evidence demonstrated that the Ciphr devices used by Mr Steuer, Mr Legg and the appellant came from the same source.  Secondly, in the chats between 'Wifey' and 'Gingerbreadman', the appellant referred to a discussion he had with a person using the handle 'Meat Hooks'.  The terms of that discussion demonstrated a degree of familiarity between Meat Hooks and the appellant.  Significantly, a person by the name of 'Meat Hooks' was referred to in the 'Delivery' Ciphr chat involving 'EBP' in terms which made it clear that 'Meat Hooks' was another member of the syndicate.  A message sent by user EllenDegenerate read: 'Alt passed 8500 meathooks, 139k tinkerbell, 30k lord.' (ts 954 ‑ 956; Exhibit 47.46).  On the State's case, this was a clear reference to a payment of $8,500 being passed to Meat Hooks by Mr Steuer.  'Meat Hooks' was also stored as a contact in Mr Legg's Ciphr device (ts 946 ‑ 948; Exhibit 47.37).

10. On 19 January 2020, the appellant returned to Perth of his own volition.  On that day he was arrested at Perth International Airport, but was subsequently released without charge.  At that time, Mr Steuer had begun to cooperate with police, but had not yet provided a signed statement (ts 1616 ‑ 1617, 1640 ‑ 1641).  Mr Steuer provided his first signed statement on 24 January 2020.  On that date he participated in a number of digiboard procedures and identified various members of the syndicate.  Mr Steuer identified: the appellant as Ethnic Brad Pitt/EBP (ts 1107 ‑ 1108, 1618; MFI E/Exhibit 89); Mr Campbell as Hollaway (ts 1108, 1619; MFI F/Exhibit 90); Alexander Halsey as EllenDegenerate (ts 1108 ‑ 1109, 1619; MFI G/Exhibit 91); Mr Parker as Beermonster/Brickie (ts 1109, 1620; MFI H/Exhibit 92); and Ms Sutherland as the appellant's wife (ts 1109, 1620; MFI I/Exhibit 93).

11. On 13 April 2020, police executed a search warrant at 22 Langley Way, Booragoon, the home of Kylie Mancuso.  Ms Mancuso had a number of new mobile telephone devices stacked in their boxes in her home office, together with a bundle of Ciphr SIM cards.  Police found documentation with Ciphr emails and names (ts 1621 ‑ 1623; Exhibit 94.1 ‑ 94.11).  Police also found an active Ciphr device that they were able to access (ts 1624; Exhibit 95.1 ‑ 95.13).  The handle of this device was Sales.Admin Temp with the CID 897AE74D.  This CID matched the CID associated with Sales.admin that was located in Mr Legg's Ciphr device (ts 1624; Exhibit 95.1 and Exhibit 47.145).  Contacts stored in Ms Mancuso's Ciphr device included ETHNIC BRADPITT; Ethnic.BradPitt; EBP; Alterman MGP001@wogs ref; Ginger Bread Man; Gingerbreadman; Hollaway; Gary Garry Beers; and Brickie (ts 1624 ‑ 1631).  The State's case was that Ms Mancuso was operating a business selling Ciphr enabled devices and that she had provided Ciphr devices to the syndicate, including to the appellant and Mr Steuer.  Evidence adduced at trial demonstrated that Ciphr enabled devices sell for about $2,100 to $2,300 with a six-month subscription, and an ongoing subscription cost of $1,500 every six months (ts 1509).

12. Mr Steuer provided a second statement on 24 April 2020, at which time he identified Ms Mancuso as the person who had supplied him with his Ciphr telephone and as the user of the handle 'Sales.admin' (ts 1110, 1631; MFI J/Exhibit 96).

13. On 27 April 2020, the appellant was charged with attempted possession of the 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine brought into Western Australia by Mr Newton and Mr Gray.

14. On 28 April 2020, before his sentencing hearing, Mr Steuer signed an undertaking to give honest and truthful evidence as a State witness at any trial of the appellant, Mr Campbell, Mr Halsey, Mr Parker and Mr Legg in accordance with his statements of 24 January 2020 and 24 April 2020.  Before the sentencing hearing, Mr Steuer told his lawyer that some parts of those statements were untrue.  Handwritten notations were made to the undertaking to exclude paragraphs 84 to 87 of the statement dated 24 January 2020 and paragraphs 107 to 110 of the statement dated 24 April 2020 from the undertaking (ts 1124, 1128 ‑ 1130; Exhibit 48).

The State's case concerning the use of code names

1. The State's case asserted that the appellant and his associates used code names in communicating with each other as follows:

Real Name	Code Name
Nikola Maksimovic: that is, the appellant	Ethnic Brad Pitt / EBP / Gingerbreadman
Ellie Sutherland: that is, the appellant's wife	Wifey
Samuel Steuer	Alterman
Kylie Mancuso	Sales.admin
Aaron Legg	Tempa
James Parker	Brickie / Beermonster
Alexander Halsey	EllenDegenerate
Tom King	Gary Garry Beers
Dayle Campbell	Hollaway

1. The evidence at trial revealed that there were a number of unidentified code names; in particular:

   (a)Clark Kent/Clark K;

   (b)Blue;

   (c)Meat Hooks;

   (d)Tinkerbell; and

   (e)Butterbean, Deadpool and Eagle (all of which were stored on Ms Sutherland's Ciphr device).

The evidence at the trial

1. The State called numerous witnesses at the trial.

2. Mr Newton gave evidence at the trial.  The appellant and Mr Gray did not give or adduce any evidence.

The appellant's admissions pursuant to s 32 of the Evidence Act 1906 (WA)

1. At the trial the appellant made a number of admissions pursuant to s 32 of the Evidence Act.  The admissions included (Exhibit 1):

   (a)On 11 May 2019, at approximately 12.10 pm, the appellant and Mr Campbell purchased return air tickets from Perth to Thailand via Singapore.

   (b)On 11 May 2019, at approximately 2.05 pm, the appellant and Mr Campbell left Perth on that flight and travelled to Thailand via Singapore.

   (c)The appellant and Mr Campbell were captured on CCTV footage at Perth International Airport on 11 May 2019 at 12.42 pm.

   (d)The appellant was due to return to Perth from Thailand on the return flight referred to in para (a) on 21 May 2019, but he did not board the flight.

   (e)The appellant did not return to Australia until 19 January 2020.

   (f)The appellant's wife is Ellie Sutherland.

Mr Steuer's evidence at trial

Examination‑in‑chief

1. Mr Steuer's evidence‑in‑chief was to the following effect.

2. At the time of the trial Mr Steuer was aged 31.  In around August or September 2018, he lost his job as an off-site driller.  He started using drugs, including cannabis, methylamphetamine, heroin, Valium and Xanax (ts 1061 ‑ 1062).

3. Mr Steuer initially obtained drugs from his cousin, Chantelle Steuer.  Mr Steuer then asked his friend, Jack Danross, to 'hook' him up with someone from whom he could obtain drugs.  Mr Danross put Mr Steuer in contact with a person called 'Wogs', also known as 'Nik'.  Mr Steuer had worked for Nik a few years previously.  As at 2018 Mr Steuer had known Nik for about five years (ts 1062 ‑ 1063).  Mr Steuer contacted Nik through an encrypted chat messenger called Wickr, which he had installed on his mobile telephone (ts 1063).

4. Nik told Mr Steuer to meet him.  Mr Steuer met with the appellant at the appellant's house.  Mr Steuer did not know the address of the appellant's house, but was able to describe the house and how to get there (ts 1063 ‑ 1065).  Nik gave Mr Steuer a 'Wickr name' of a person who could provide Mr Steuer with methylamphetamine.  Mr Steuer began to purchase methylamphetamine through the Wickr contact Nik had given him.  The Wickr contact would deliver drugs to Mr Steuer's house regularly.  The Wickr contact would put the drugs in Mr Steuer's meter box and Mr Steuer would leave him the money (ts 1065 ‑ 1067).

5. Within 'a month or two' after the initial provision of the drug, Mr Steuer began to obtain increasing quantities of methylamphetamine from the Wickr contact.  Mr Steuer had friends who also wanted methylamphetamine, so he began purchasing larger quantities and selling most of the drugs to his friends.  Mr Steuer started 'ticking', meaning he would obtain the methylamphetamine first and pay for it later.  He then began to 'tick' his friends.  His friends did not always pay.  Eventually, Mr Steuer could not pay the Wickr contact for the methylamphetamine.  He owed a debt of about $7,500 (ts 1067 ‑ 1069).

6. In around November or December 2018, Mr Steuer received a message from Nik via Wickr.  Nik wanted to see Mr Steuer.  When they met, Nik told Mr Steuer that he had a certain amount of time to pay the debt.  Nik gave Mr Steuer an option of 'working [the debt] off' by doing a 'simple job' with 'not much risk'.  Mr Steuer agreed to do the job.  Nik said that Mr Steuer would be paid $500 per kilogram of 'substance' that Mr Steuer stored at his house; that Mr Steuer was not to do anything; that Mr Steuer was to let 'people that come do their thing'; and that someone would drop a Ciphr telephone to Mr Steuer's house and tell him how to use it (ts 1070 ‑ 1071).

7. About a day later a woman delivered a Ciphr telephone to Mr Steuer's house and explained to him how to use it.  The woman said that her contact name and Nik's contact name were already installed on the telephone.  She identified herself as 'Sales Admin'.  On instructions from 'Sales Admin', Mr Steuer entered the code which was on the back of the telephone and unlocked it.  There were two contacts installed on the telephone, namely 'Sales Admin' and 'Ethnic Brad Pitt'.  Mr Steuer messaged 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' who replied 'It's Wogs'.  Mr Steuer understood that to be Nik (ts 1071 ‑ 1072).

8. Mr Steuer used the Ciphr telephone to contact Nik, under Nik's handle of 'Ethnic Brad Pitt'.  If he texted Nik on the Ciphr telephone and did not get a response, he would message Nik's 'actual phone'.  Nik would then reply on the Ciphr telephone (ts 1072 ‑ 1073).

1. Nik, using the handle of 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' on Ciphr, told Mr Steuer on Ciphr that a storage box would be delivered to him which would be used to store drugs.  A large, heavy duty green storage container with a combination lock and a 'vacseal machine' were delivered to Mr Steuer's house.  The purpose of the 'vacseal machine' was to vacuum seal the methylamphetamine so that it remained 'fresh'.  The green storage container and the vacuum sealing machine were delivered after Mr Steuer had received the Ciphr device (ts 1073 ‑ 1074).

2. Mr Steuer had used a Blackberry telephone before, which was another type of encrypted Ciphr device.  Mr Steuer understood the Ciphr telephone to be an encrypted device (ts 1075).

3. Mr Steuer was referred to by the handle 'Alterman' on Ciphr.  He was never referred to by any other handle (ts 1075).

4. Nik, using the handle 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' on Ciphr, told Mr Steuer to add someone on Ciphr using the handle 'Blue'.  To add someone on Ciphr, Mr Steuer was given someone's contact details to search for; he would search for them and send a request; and if the person accepted the request they would become part of his contacts (ts 1075).  Mr Steuer added 'Blue' on Ciphr.  Nik, using the handle 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' on Ciphr, told Mr Steuer that 'Blue' would drop the first load of drugs at Mr Steuer's house.  'Blue' contacted Mr Steuer on Ciphr to arrange a time to 'drop off' the drugs (ts 1076 ‑ 1077). This occurred in late 2018 (ts 1078).

5. On the same day 'Blue' contacted Mr Steuer, he came to Mr Steuer's house with a duffle bag.  Mr Steuer described 'Blue' as a man in his late forties with grey hair and wrinkly skin.  Mr Steuer saw packages of what looked like tea in the duffle bag.  Mr Steuer showed 'Blue' where the green storage container was located.  'Blue' put the tea packages from the duffle bag into the green storage container.  Mr Steuer estimated that around 10 packages of tea were placed into the green storage container.  The packages were large (ts 1077 ‑ 1079).

6. Mr Steuer saw 'Blue' on one other occasion.  'Blue' came to Mr Steuer's house and picked up a kilogram of methylamphetamine from the green storage container (ts 1080).

7. During the same period (being toward the end of 2018), a man named 'Brickie' 'rocked up' to Mr Steuer's house.  He was short, had dark hair that was greying and he was a 'bit tubby'.  Mr Steuer thought that 'Brickie' looked like a police officer.  Mr Steuer messaged Nik on Ciphr who 'verified that Brickie was okay'.  'Brickie' picked up a kilogram of drugs from the back room in Mr Steuer's house (ts 1080 ‑ 1081).  Mr Steuer came to know that Brickie was Mr Parker (ts 1082).

8. After the initial attendance at Mr Steuer's house, Mr Steuer saw Brickie again more than once.  Brickie would attend Mr Steuer's house to 'pick up' from time to time.  Eventually the 'packages' in Mr Steuer's house ran out.  When this occurred, Mr Steuer decided to move from the Spearwood area.  In around January or February 2019, Mr Steuer moved into his friend's house on Little Lake Rise, South Lake. Mr Steuer did not tell anyone that he was moving (ts 1082).  Mr Steuer did not want Nik and his associates to know where he lived (ts 1084).

9. Mr Steuer moved all of his items from the Spearwood house to the Little Lake Rise house.  This included the green storage container and the vacuum sealing machine (ts 1083 ‑ 1084).

10. After Mr Steuer moved house, Nik contacted him on Ciphr.  Nik told Mr Steuer that he 'didn't really have a choice in the matter' and that Mr Steuer 'still owed [Nik] a debt'.  Nik also said that 'he would bash [Mr Steuer's] head in beyond comprehension'.  Mr Steuer was scared by the message and carried on working for Nik by storing drugs, now in the Little Lake Rise house.  Mr Steuer's role in storing the drugs remained the same (ts 1083).  The drugs came to be at the Little Lake Rise house when 'Brickie' delivered the drugs (ts 1084).

11. Mr Steuer's role changed in that he became 'more involved' (ts 1084).  On Ciphr, Nik told Mr Steuer to buy electronic kitchen scales (ts 1084 ‑ 1085).

12. A person with the handle 'Tempa' on Ciphr picked up kilograms of methylamphetamine from the Little Lake Rise house a couple of times.  'Tempa' looked young and had white skin.  Mr Steuer did not have any direct, one on one, contact with 'Tempa' on Ciphr, but they were part of group conversations on Ciphr.  The members of the group chat titled 'Delivery' included 'Beermonster', 'EBP', 'EllenDegenerate', 'Gary Garry Beers', 'Hollaway' and 'Tempa' (ts 1090 ‑ 1091).

13. Mr Parker delivered methylamphetamine to Mr Steuer's house and sometimes transferred methylamphetamine from Mr Steuer's house to other places (ts 1091).

14. Mr Parker used the handle 'Beermonster' and also used the handle 'Brickie' on Ciphr.  Mr Parker changed his Ciphr handle from 'Brickie' to 'Beermonster' a couple of months before Mr Steuer was arrested.  Other people also changed their Ciphr handles. 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' was changed to 'EBP'. 'Clark Kent' was changed to 'Clark K' (ts 1091).  People began to change their Ciphr handles because someone had been arrested recently.  Mr Steuer did not change his Ciphr handle as he had never had contact with the person who was arrested (ts 1092).

15. 'EBP' was Mr Steuer's boss.  Mr Steuer did what 'EBP' said.  'EBP' was the 'owner' of the group chat on Ciphr.  This meant that 'EBP' could add or remove people from the group chat (ts 1092).

16. Mr Steuer did not know 'EllenDegenerate's' real name.  He knew that 'EllenDegenerate's' role was handling money.  'EllenDegenerate' would deliver money that was owing to members of the syndicate.  Various other people, including 'Beermonster', 'Gary Garry Beers', 'Tempa' and 'Hollaway' would also deliver money to the Little Lake Rise house (ts 1092).  This would occur at the same time as they were dropping off packages or picking up packages.  Those people only delivered money until the 'very last time', when Mr Steuer was given some of their money and they had to come to the Little Lake Rise house to collect their money.  'Clark Kent' instructed Mr Steuer that he was to give money to 'Hollaway', 'Tempa' and 'Gary Garry Beers' (ts 1093).

17. In 2019 'EllenDegenerate' came to the Little Lake Rise house on three or four occasions.  He was exclusively involved in 'money' and never handled or touched the packages of drugs at the house.  The largest quantity of cash Mr Steuer saw was $500,000, but he was told there was much more.  The cash was kept in the same green storage container as the methylamphetamine.  When 'EllenDegenerate' handled the cash he wore surgical gloves (ts 1093).  The man with the handle 'EllenDegenerate' was tall, had strawberry blondish hair, looked relatively fit, dressed very well and had white skin (ts 1094).

18. The people involved in picking up the methylamphetamine were 'Beermonster', 'Gary Garry Beers' and 'Tempa'.  Mr Steuer came to know the person with the handle 'Gary Garry Beers' as Tom (ts 1094).

19. 'Hollaway' attended the Little Lake Rise house a couple of times to pick up methylamphetamine.  'Hollaway' had dark hair and was skinny and white.  From time to time he told Mr Steuer what to do (ts 1094 ‑ 1095).

20. Mr Steuer identified that a group chat on Ciphr titled 'HELLO' was used to set up deliveries of methylamphetamine to Mr Steuer.  The members of the group chat were 'Alterman', 'Beermonster', 'Gary Garry Beers', 'Hollaway' and 'Tempa'.  The members would access the group chat in the morning and be informed of who was coming to Mr Steuer's house to pick up drugs and whether Mr Steuer had to weigh the drugs.  'Hollaway' would issue the instructions (ts 1095).

21. Mr Steuer identified that a group chat on Ciphr titled '2 keg pickup' was used to organise the picking up of two kilograms of methylamphetamine (ts 1095 ‑ 1096).  The members of the group chat were 'Alterman', 'Clark K' and 'Tempa'.  'Clark K' was also Mr Steuer's 'boss' and if he told Mr Steuer to do something, he would do it.  This was because Nik told Mr Steuer to do what 'Clark K' said (ts 1095).  The messages in the group chat were sent about two weeks before Mr Steuer was arrested (ts 1096).

22. On 10 May 2019, Mr Steuer was arrested at the Little Lake Rise house.  Mr Parker was also at the house.  Mr Parker had been at the house for about 15 minutes before the police arrived.  He was at the Little Lake Rise house because he was delivering a new shipment of 56 kg of methylamphetamine.  The drug was packaged in black plastic bags inside black containers.  Mr Steuer would not usually help pack the drugs in the back room of the house, but that morning he had asked Mr Parker if he required help.  Mr Parker agreed.  Mr Steuer helped transfer the methylamphetamine from Mr Parker's van to the back room of the house.  Mr Parker told Mr Steuer that he did not have his Ciphr with him and he would need photographs of the methylamphetamine.  The methylamphetamine also needed to be counted (ts 1096 ‑ 1097).  When he gave evidence, Mr Steuer did not believe that Mr Parker did not have his Ciphr with him (ts 1098).

23. The back room of the Little Lake Rise house contained the green storage container, Mr Steuer's clothes, his former partner's snake, old methylamphetamine and the 'pays' for 'Tempa' and 'Hollaway' (ts 1097 ‑ 1098).

24. Once the black containers were taken to the back room, Mr Steuer removed the packages from the containers, placed them on the floor, counted them and took photographs.  Mr Steuer then sent the photographs to 'Clark Kent' and 'Ethnic Brad Pitt'. Mr Parker had instructed Mr Steuer to do this. Mr Steuer was also instructed by 'Clark Kent' and Nik on Ciphr to send the photographs (ts 1098 ‑ 1099).

25. Mr Steuer, his housemate and Mr Steuer's former partner were the only other people who had access to the back room in which he would store methylamphetamine.  The door to the back room had a lock on it and Mr Steuer was the only person who had a key.  Mr Steuer did not lock the door.  Mr Steuer's housemate would not access the back room unless Mr Steuer invited him (ts 1099).

26. Mr Steuer identified a photograph of a grey box.  Inside the grey box were two ounces of cannabis and $3,000 cash which belonged to Mr Steuer.  Mr Steuer was paid the $3,000 by 'EllenDegenerate' the day before Mr Steuer was arrested (ts 1100 ‑ 1101).  Mr Steuer identified photographs of a blue esky with a white lid which was located in the back room.  Inside the esky were two 'pays' which 'EllenDegenerate' had delivered to the Little Lake Rise house the day before Mr Steuer was arrested.  The money was for 'Tempa' and 'Hollaway'. Mr Steuer had put the money in the esky (ts 1101).

27. Mr Steuer identified a photograph of the vacuum sealing machine.  This item was provided to Mr Steuer when he was given the green storage container.  Mr Steuer used the vacuum sealing machine whenever he opened a bag of methylamphetamine.  Once he opened a bag of methylamphetamine, he would place the contents into a new bag and seal the new bag (ts 1101 ‑ 1102).  Nik would ask Mr Steuer on Ciphr to open the bags of methylamphetamine, take photographs and send the photographs to him.  This was because Nik would send the photographs to clients to show them the quality of the methylamphetamine (ts 1102).

28. Mr Steuer identified a photograph of the 56 kg of methylamphetamine in question that was on the floor and inside the green storage container.  Mr Steuer was involved in putting some of the packages inside the green storage container (ts 1102 ‑ 1103).

29. Mr Steuer identified other photographs of the 56 kg of methylamphetamine.  The packages had Chinese characters on them.  Mr Steuer knew 'something was wrong' because the packages never had 'Asian writing' on them (ts 1103).

30. Mr Steuer identified a photograph of methylamphetamine on a counter in the back room.  This methylamphetamine comprised drugs from a previous shipment and drugs from clients who were not satisfied with their quality.  'Gary Garry Beers' and other associates had 'dropped' that methylamphetamine to Mr Steuer two weeks before he was arrested.  Mr Steuer was asked to repackage the methylamphetamine and mix with other better quality methylamphetamine for a client.  Mr Steuer had lost 56 grams in the process.  As Nik and 'Clark Kent' did not trust Mr Steuer after this loss, they made him take photographs of the methylamphetamine on most days to prove that he had not taken methylamphetamine from the bags.  On 10 May 2019, Mr Steuer had taken photographs of the methylamphetamine on the counter for 'Clark Kent' and Nik to prove that he had not lost more methylamphetamine (ts 1104).  The photographs were of the methylamphetamine on kitchen scales (ts 1104 ‑ 1105).  Three kilograms of methylamphetamine was found on the counter (ts 1105).

31. On 10 May 2019, when Mr Steuer was arrested by police, his Ciphr telephone was seized.  Mr Steuer gave fake passwords to the police in relation to the Ciphr telephone in the hope that it would activate a self‑deletion mechanism.  The woman with the handle 'Sales Admin' had told Mr Steuer about the self‑deletion mechanism.  Mr Steuer's Ciphr telephone self‑deleted because he saw the telephone had reset itself, lost the Ciphr and start up with a 'plain old Samsung desktop' (ts 1106 ‑ 1107).

32. After his arrest, police gave Mr Steuer photographs so that he could identify the people who were involved in the syndicate (ts 1107).  Mr Steuer identified the following people:

    (a)Nik, who used the handle 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' (MFI E, ts 1107 ‑ 1108);

    (b)'Hollaway' (MFI F, ts 1108);

    (c)'EllenDegenerate' (MFI G, ts 1108);

    (d)Mr Parker, who used the handle 'Brickie' and 'Beermonster' (MFI H, ts 1109);

    (e)Nik's wife (MFI I, ts 1109); and

    (f)'Sales Admin' (MFI J, ts 1110).

Cross-examination

1. Prior to trial, Mr Steuer had given four statements to police on 24 January 2020, 24 April 2020, 19 May 2020 and 26 July 2021.  In the third statement made on 19 May 2020, Mr Steuer corrected some things he had said in the first two earlier statements that were not true (ts 1111 ‑ 1112).

2. When Mr Steuer made the first two statements to police, he was aware that he was talking to police about his involvement with a syndicate that was dealing in methylamphetamine.  Mr Steuer agreed that the process of preparing the statements was lengthy and detailed and that he read each statement before he was asked to sign it (ts 1113). Mr Steuer also agreed that, by signing the standard form declaration at the end of each statement, he confirmed that the statement was true and correct to the best of his belief (ts 1113 ‑ 1114).  Mr Steuer agreed that he told the police lies in the first two statements and that he wanted them to believe those lies (ts 1114 ‑ 1115).

3. Mr Steuer wanted the police to believe that he was under duress from two men.  Mr Steuer told the lies because he did not think that the police would believe that one man 'had a hold over' him (ts 1115).  Mr Steuer told his lawyer, Seamus Rafferty, on the day before his sentencing that 'it wasn't true' (ts 1116).

4. In the first statement, Mr Steuer created an occasion where two men came to his house in October or November 2018, told Mr Steuer that he needed to clear his drug debt and threatened him.  Mr Steuer described the first man as tall, muscular and 'Lebanese looking'.  Mr Steuer described the second man as having a mohawk hairstyle, tattoos on both arms and dark olive skin (ts 1116 ‑ 1117).  In the first statement, Mr Steuer also told police the following things that were not true (ts 1117 ‑ 1118):

   (a)the men told Mr Steuer he was to be paid $500 per kilogram of methylamphetamine stored;

   (b)the men told Mr Steuer that a telephone would be delivered to him the next day; and

   (c)the men supplied Mr Streuer with a big green box with two combination locks and a vacuum sealing machine.

5. In his first statement, Mr Steuer also told police that the two men came to the Little Lake Rise house with a sawn-off shotgun.  Mr Steuer agreed that he wanted the pressure that he was supposedly experiencing from the two men to seem more significant by creating the gun as part of his story.  Mr Steuer said in the first statement that he did not know how the two men found out where he lived, being the Little Lake Rise house (ts 1118).  Mr Steuer agreed that he made that assertion so that the circumstances sounded more sinister.  Mr Steuer also said in the first statement that he had a conversation with the two men on that occasion.  The two men threatened Mr Steuer, said they were going to put Mr Steuer in a shallow grave and said he needed to speak with Ethnic Brad Pitt (ts 1119).

6. Mr Steuer agreed that, by the time he made his first statement on 24 January 2020, he had made a decision to cooperate with police and plead guilty (ts 1119).  Mr Steuer also agreed that, by that date, he had decided to tell the police a slightly different story, including things that did not actually happen, to make the police believe him more (ts 1121).

7. It was put to Mr Steuer that he cooperated with police to receive a five‑year discount on his sentence.  Mr Steuer denied that he was going to ask for a discount, or was promised a discount, on his sentence.  Mr Steuer agreed that he was told that he would receive a five‑year discount on his sentence if he agreed to give evidence at the trial (ts 1119 ‑ 1120).  Mr Steuer said he was confused as to the calculation of his sentence, particularly whether his early plea of guilty was included in the five‑year discount.  Mr Steuer said, 'I haven't actually done the maths' (ts 1120 ‑ 1121).

8. Mr Steuer provided a second statement to police on 24 April 2020 (ts 1122).  Mr Steuer agreed that the lies he told in his first statement to police, on 24 January 2020, were repeated word for word in his second statement (ts 1123).

9. Mr Steuer informed the police that he had lied in his previous two statements.  The police asked Mr Steuer to correct the statements in his third statement made on 19 May 2020 (ts 1123 ‑ 1124).  In the third statement, Mr Steuer said that he had informed his lawyer prior to his sentencing that the information in some of the paragraphs in his previous statements was untrue.  Mr Steuer explained that he made up those things because he did not think the police would believe him if he said it was just Nik (ts 1124).  Mr Steuer also said in his third statement that he knew he should not have lied, but he was scared to take the lies out of the statements in case the police did not believe him (ts 1125).

10. Mr Steuer did not agree with the proposition that if, in his evidence at trial, he was worried that the jury did not believe him and he was lying, he would maintain that lie.  Mr Steuer said that he had been 'fully upfront' (ts 1125).

11. Mr Steuer signed an undertaking on 28 April 2020 to give evidence as a State witness consistently with his first and second statements to police (ts 1127 ‑ 1128).  Later, a handwritten part was added to the undertaking which excluded the matters in the first and second statements relating to the untrue events involving the sawn-off shotgun (ts 1128).  It was put to Mr Steuer that in the undertaking he did not reject his evidence about the initial meeting with the two men.  Mr Steuer could not answer this.  It was also put to Mr Steuer that, at the date of his sentencing, he was not prepared to tell the police or the court the entirety of the truth.  Mr Steuer did not accept that proposition (ts 1128 ‑ 1129).  Mr Steuer did not recall whether, at the date of his sentencing, his lawyer maintained that the initial meeting with the two men had occurred.  Mr Steuer understood that his evidence at trial was that neither of the two meetings with the two men had occurred.  Mr Steuer maintained that he had told the exact same thing to police as his lawyer, being that neither meeting with the two men had occurred (ts 1131).

12. Mr Steuer agreed that, on the day after he was sentenced, he had a telephone conversation with his mother from custody.  He explained to his mother the sentence he had received, including the five‑year discount; and that he would have five years added back if he stopped cooperating with the police.  Mr Steuer also explained that as his sentence was 11 years, with two years for parole, that would mean he would have to serve nine years and, having already served one, that meant there was eight years to go.  Mr Steuer remembered that earlier when giving evidence he had said he did not understand how the terms of his sentence were calculated.  It was put to Mr Steuer that he was not telling the truth when he said he did not understand how his sentence was calculated.  Mr Steuer said he did not understand the maths until he spoke to someone in his prison unit who knew more about it than he did (ts 1132 ‑ 1133).

1. Mr Steuer agreed that, when he gave the statements to police, he used the statements as a chance to tell a story to police that would help him, rather than an opportunity to tell the truth.  Mr Steuer agreed that when he met Mr Parker in custody, Mr Parker talked to Mr Steuer about wanting to use the same story that Mr Steuer had given to police.  Mr Steuer did not allow Mr Parker to use the same story (ts 1133).

2. Mr Steuer agreed that he has had problems with drugs and alcohol for most of his adult life.  The drugs included cannabis, benzodiazepines, ecstasy, cocaine and methylamphetamine (ts 1133 ‑ 1135).

3. Mr Steuer did not agree that, after he had been remanded in custody, he had sought or received treatment for drug‑induced psychosis.  Mr Steuer could not remember whether the sentencing materials provided to the court made reference to him receiving treatment for drug‑induced psychosis.  Mr Steuer denied that he had experienced drug‑induced psychosis leading up to his arrest (ts 1136).  Mr Steuer agreed that he had previously experienced auditory hallucinations, but he did not remember telling that to the psychiatrist who wrote a psychiatric report for the court (ts 1136 ‑ 1137).

4. A week before he was arrested, Mr Steuer saw his general practitioner to get assistance for excessive drug use.  Mr Steuer told his general practitioner that he was 'hearing voices' to try and get better prescription drugs, particularly Valium.  Mr Steuer agreed that he was prepared to lie to the general practitioner to get the medication he wanted (ts 1138 ‑ 1139).

5. Mr Steuer did not remember telling the psychiatrist who wrote the psychiatric report that he had trouble with his motivation, memory and concentration.  Mr Steuer agreed that, since he had abused drugs, he has had issues with memory and concentration, particularly remembering names.  It was put to Mr Steuer that his mental health issues stemming from his drug use may cause him to tell the court something that was not true.  It was also put to Mr Steuer that the main purpose of him giving evidence was to suggest that the appellant was Ethnic Brad Pitt, and that he was making that up for the purposes of his evidence.  Mr Steuer denied that proposition (ts 1140).

6. Mr Steuer pleaded guilty after being in custody for seven months.  He pleaded guilty after the prosecution had disclosed to him the evidence against him and he had received legal advice about that evidence.  By the time Mr Steuer pleaded guilty in December 2019, he knew there was a strong case against him.  Mr Steuer thought the best thing to do was to plead guilty to receive an early plea discount on his sentence.  By the time of pleading guilty, Mr Steuer also decided that he wanted a discount on his sentence for providing additional assistance to the prosecution.  Mr Steuer's lawyers had been served with all the prosecution evidence by the time Mr Steuer entered the pleas of guilty (ts 1142).

7. Before the offending in question, Mr Steuer had sold and supplied cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and methylamphetamine (ts 1143 ‑ 1145).  Mr Steuer agreed that, when he was dealing in methylamphetamine, the people with whom he was dealing could not always be trusted to pay the drug debt they owed (ts 1144).

8. Mr Steuer agreed with the following propositions (ts 1145 ‑ 1146):

   (a)he was involved in storing more than 50 kg of drugs;

   (b)he took delivery of drugs in two different locations during the course of his work for the syndicate;

   (c)on occasion he helped physically unpack the drugs;

   (d)he purchased a set of digital scales and weighed the drugs on the scales;

   (e)he would label the drugs after they had been weighed;

   (f)he would help repackage the drugs;

   (g)he accepted multiple shipments of drugs; and

   (h)the drugs were moved from Mr Steuer's house to others in the syndicate.

9. Mr Steuer agreed that he was a drug addict at the time of his arrest and he knew methylamphetamine was doing harm in his life, but he was still prepared to be involved in the syndicate.  Mr Steuer agreed that he took delivery of large amounts of cash and drugs in his house.  He understood the scale of the syndicate he was assisting.  If he knew that he could have received a life sentence for his illegal activities he would not have done them (ts 1146).

10. Mr Steuer agreed that the reason why he moved from the Spearwood house to the Little Lake Rise house was to stop being involved in the syndicate.  He agreed that, as part of the move to the Little Lake Rise house, he took 'some of the syndicate's property', including the vacuum sealing machine, the green storage container that was used to store the drugs and the Ciphr telephone.  It was put to Mr Steuer that he was not trying to abandon the syndicate when moving house, but that he was simply moving house and he ultimately increased the activities he conducted for the syndicate.  Mr Steuer rejected that proposition.  However, Mr Steuer agreed that after he moved to the Little Lake Rise house, his role in the syndicate expanded to weighing, labelling and unpacking the drugs.  Mr Steuer denied that he expanded his role to earn more money or be more involved in the syndicate (ts 1147).

11. Mr Steuer agreed that he met the appellant through his friend Mr Danross.  Mr Steuer denied that he had visited the appellant's house with his friend Mr Danross and that this was why Mr Steuer knew what the appellant's wife looked like (ts 1154).

12. Before Mr Steuer told police about the appellant's involvement in the syndicate, he saw on the news that the appellant's house was raided by police in relation to the drug transaction.  Mr Steuer was aware that the police were wanting to prosecute the appellant.  Mr Steuer denied that, when he knew the police were 'after' the appellant, he decided he would name the appellant in this matter for Mr Steuer's own benefit (ts 1155).

13. Mr Steuer agreed that, during his first few weeks in custody, he was anxious about electronic devices and accounts that needed collection or deletion and he was worried that those devices and accounts would incriminate him.  Mr Steuer wanted to 'tidy all of that up' before he spoke to police and gave them his version of events (ts 1155).  Mr Steuer asked his cousin, Chantelle, to collect Mr Parker's Ciphr telephone that Mr Parker had thrown over the back fence at the Little Lake Rise house and the surveillance hard drive from the house (ts 1156).

14. Mr Steuer said that the appellant had told him that he did not want security cameras at Mr Steuer's house recording people coming to the house.  Mr Steuer lied to 'Hollaway' that the security cameras were not turned on.  Mr Steuer said he was prepared to lie to other members of the syndicate because they were dangerous people.  Mr Steuer said he wanted the jury to believe what he said in evidence as he was there 'to do the right thing' (ts 1156).

15. Mr Steuer did not realise that he was putting his cousin, Chantelle, at risk of being charged by police when asking her to collect the electronic devices from his house (ts 1156 ‑ 1157).  It was a surprise to Mr Steuer that Chantelle was charged in relation to collecting the electronic devices from Mr Steuer's house.  Mr Steuer did not care that Chantelle was charged because he believed Chantelle had told the appellant where Mr Steuer's mother lived, which led to her house being set on fire (ts 1157).

16. Mr Steuer asked members of his family, including his cousin Chantelle, to delete his Facebook and Wickr accounts, to 'sort out' his Instagram account and to wipe his laptop (ts 1157 ‑ 1158).  Mr Steuer said he was trying to protect his interests and the interests of Nik and the other associates in the syndicate.  However, Mr Steuer admitted that at trial he was looking after his own interests, and not the others after 'what they did' to him.  Mr Steuer said it was about 'justice' (ts 1158).

17. Mr Steuer had been told by Mr Parker that Mr Parker had thrown his Ciphr telephone over the fence and that was how Mr Steuer knew the telephone was there.  Mr Steuer agreed to get his cousin to help retrieve the telephone so that it would not fall into the hands of the police (ts 1158).

18. On the day of the police raid at Mr Steuer's house, Mr Parker arrived at the house 15 minutes before the police (ts 1158).  Mr Steuer helped Mr Parker unload the van and put a massive quantity of methylamphetamine into the green storage container.  Mr Steuer had suspicions about the methylamphetamine as the packaging did not look like the packaging he had collected before (ts 1159).

19. Mr Steuer primarily used three rooms at the Little Lake Rise house: his bedroom, the sunken lounge area where some cannabis and cash were found and the room with the lock on it where drugs and cash were stored.  Mr Steuer had a set of keys to the storage room and they were in his pocket when the police raided the house.  Mr Steuer rarely kept the room locked.  The day of the raid was 'most probably' the first time Mr Steuer had locked the room.  Mr Steuer did not want someone who was delivering drugs to tell Mr Steuer's associates that he was leaving the room unlocked (ts 1159).

20. Mr Steuer was working for a mining company until August or September 2018.  He lost his job because he reversed a truck into a pile of iron ore.  The company told Mr Steuer that he needed a mental health check.  At that stage, Mr Steuer was not using drugs.  Mr Steuer said he did not have mental health issues while he was not taking drugs, and the company told him to get the mental health check as it was standard practice.  Mr Steuer agreed that, prior to his arrest, he saw his general practitioner to get a mental health plan.  Mr Steuer also agreed that he lied to the general practitioner to get Xanax (ts 1160).

21. Mr Steuer agreed that the appellant was not the person who delivered methylamphetamine to his meter box.  Mr Steuer denied that what he said about the appellant putting him in contact with the person who delivered drugs to his meter box was untrue.  It was put to Mr Steuer that he had made that up to make his story about the appellant being Ethnic Brad Pitt more believable.  Mr Steuer denied the proposition.  Mr Steuer agreed that the person who delivered the drugs to his meter box was unrelated to the syndicate (ts 1161).

22. Mr Steuer said he did not lie when he told the jury that it was the appellant who put him in the drug storage role (ts 1162).

23. Mr Steuer agreed that he had used a Blackberry telephone before as an encrypted telephone for the purposes of drug dealing.  Mr Steuer had not used a Ciphr telephone prior to his involvement with the syndicate.  Mr Steuer agreed that, when he was providing evidence about 'EllenDegenerate', he gave the impression that that person was not a 'professional operator' because they were leaving gloves with DNA at Mr Steuer's house.  Mr Steuer was aware of encrypted communications and that people should take care not to leave DNA (ts 1162).

24. Mr Steuer said he was telling the truth when he gave evidence that 'Sales Admin' had told him that Nik's name was already in the Ciphr telephone and that she gave him the real name of the person, being Nik, that he would be communicating with in an encrypted communication forum.  Mr Steuer said that 'Sales Admin' understood that Nik knew Mr Steuer (ts 1162 ‑ 1163).

25. 'Sales Admin' did not provide Mr Steuer with her real name.  She gave him a 'very expensive Ciphr‑encrypted device' so that Mr Steuer could communicate with an illegal drug syndicate anonymously.  Mr Steuer denied that he made up that he and 'Sales Admin' discussed the real name of one of the participants of the syndicate (ts 1163).

26. Mr Steuer agreed that the first time he had ever said that 'Sales Admin', on delivering the Ciphr telephone, told him 'Nik's name is in the phone', was to the jury and it was not in his police statements (ts 1164).

27. Mr Steuer agreed that he had previously said in evidence that one of the first messages he sent on the Ciphr telephone was to ask 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' who they were.  Mr Steuer agreed that, despite being told that the contact person was Nik, his first question to the person was 'Who are you?'.  Mr Steuer rejected the suggestion that he was lying (ts 1165).

28. It was put to Mr Steuer that knowing real names undermined the point of having encrypted technology.  Mr Steuer did not agree and explained that if you did not provide the password the device was protected and the messages could be set to self-delete (ts 1165 ‑ 1166).

29. Mr Steuer's Ciphr telephone was wiped because he deliberately gave police the wrong password to access the telephone.  Mr Steuer agreed that in the early weeks after his arrest his aim was to deceive police and destroy evidence, as opposed to helping police.  The appellant had previously told Mr Steuer that if he was ever arrested, he must not speak to the police (ts 1166).

30. Mr Steuer knew that the person involved in the syndicate who went by the handle 'Gary Garry Beers' was called Tom King.  Mr Steuer had recruited Mr King to be involved in the syndicate.  It was put to Mr Steuer that police had asked Mr Steuer to identify Mr King on a digiboard and Mr Steuer declined to identify him.  Mr Steuer maintained that he was never shown a digiboard of Mr King (ts 1167).  Mr Steuer said to police that he would tell them about Mr King on the condition that they 'would leave him alone'.  The police could not promise Mr Steuer that they would do that, and they never asked Mr Steuer about Mr King again.  Mr Steuer denied that the police did not ask about Mr King again because Mr Steuer had made it clear that he would not help the police unless there was 'something in it' for him.  Mr Steuer denied the proposition that when there was a benefit to him or someone he cared about he would help the police, but when there was no benefit he would not (ts 1168).

31. Mr Steuer told the author of his pre‑sentence report that he felt physically sick when he observed illicit drugs being brought into his home due to his anxiety.  Mr Steuer denied that he was trying to give the impression that he did not want to be involved in the syndicate.  Mr Steuer denied that he had been comfortable dealing in drugs for a number of years inside and outside the syndicate.  Mr Steuer agreed that he had been comfortable using drugs on and off for more than a decade (ts 1168).

32. On 17 May 2019, while Mr Steuer was in custody, he was visited by his cousin Chantelle, his sister Rebecca, and his mother Lucinda.  The visit was recorded (ts 1169).  During the recording Mr Steuer stated 'there's no way for me to hand anyone else in because I didn't know anyone's name'.  Mr Steuer said that before he went into the room he knew he was being recorded, so if he said anything that incriminated his associates they would find out through their lawyers.  Mr Steuer agreed that he was saying things deliberately during the visit in the hope of being overheard (ts 1170).

33. In the recording Mr Steuer also said, 'The device I had ‑ everyone's name on the device was protected'.  Mr Steuer agreed that it was true that the names on the device were protected and that they were not their real names.  It was put to Mr Steuer that his statement that he 'didn't know anyone's name', was true.  Mr Steuer said the reason he made the statement was because he was trying to reassure his family that nothing would happen to him.  In the recording Mr Steuer said, 'so there is no way I can get myself killed or turn anyone in … because I can claim they said they would kill me if I didn't do this to [sic] them'.  Mr Steuer maintained that he said this to reassure his family and that he deliberately wanted to tell authorities that he was going to lie about being threatened with death (ts 1171).  Mr Steuer said that at the time he was still 'coming down' and was 'a bit off [his] head on benzos' (ts 1172).

34. In the recording Mr Steuer explained how he had given the police a fake password to his telephone so that he could act like he was helping, but in fact the fake password wiped the telephone.  Mr Steuer agreed in evidence that what he was saying to his family members was the truth (ts 1172).

35. During the visit Mr Steuer told his family members that he was going to tell lies to the police, including that he did not rent at the Little Lake Rise house and he never went into the room where the drugs were stored.  It was put to Mr Steuer that he was not saying those things for some authority listening to the visit, but to tell his family how he was going to 'get out of this mess'.  Mr Steuer said he knew the authorities were recording the visit, but he did not act on it.  Mr Steuer then agreed that he knew he was going to be recorded, but ignored the advice that he was being recorded (ts 1173).

36. It was then put to Mr Steuer that he was giving three explanations of the events: that he was coming down off drugs; that he knew he was being recorded so he deliberately said some things; and that he knew he was being recorded but ignored it.  Mr Steuer said all three explanations were true (ts 1173).

37. Mr Steuer agreed that during the visit, in effect, he discussed with his family members a dishonest version of events which may assist him the most (ts 1175).

38. On 30 May 2019, Mr Steuer received another visit in custody from family members.  The conversation was recorded. Mr Steuer agreed that in the conversation he told his family that he had lied to a man who was put in his prison cell and who he thought was a police officer (ts 1175).  Mr Steuer said he could not be truthful when his cousin Chantelle was around because anything he said would be relayed to the appellant (ts 1176).

39. It was put to Mr Steuer, and he denied, that he had never met Ethnic Brad Pitt, that he did not know that person's real name and that he had said the appellant was Ethnic Brad Pitt to benefit himself (ts 1176).  Mr Steuer agreed that he was a long‑time abuser of drugs and alcohol; that in the weeks leading up to his arrest he was having mental health issues; and that he was someone who was prepared to lie to the police, to other members of the syndicate and to other people in custody.  It was put to Mr Steuer that he was prepared to tell lies to the jury about the appellant, which Mr Steuer denied (ts 1176 ‑ 1177).

Re-examination

1. When Mr Steuer said in evidence that he did not think the police would believe that one man had a hold over him, he was referring to the appellant.  Mr Steuer was scared of the appellant as he could be very dangerous (ts 1177 ‑ 1178).

2. As to the correction of Mr Steuer's first two police statements, on the day he was to be sentenced Mr Steuer told his lawyer, Mr Rafferty, about the lies.  After Mr Steuer was sentenced the police went to Mr Steuer and asked him to explain why he had changed his statements before he signed the third statement (ts 1178).

3. Mr Steuer confirmed that he was not promised a discount for his cooperation with the police (ts 1179).

4. As to the reason why Mr Steuer moved from the Spearwood house to the Little Lake Rise house, Mr Steuer explained that he had met his partner, he wanted to 'clean [himself] up' and he wanted to try and take up fly in/fly out work again (ts 1179).  Mr Steuer took the syndicate's items to the Little Lake Rise house because he was not going to leave them at the Spearwood house and they were expensive (ts 1180).

5. Mr Steuer said that his cousin, Chantelle, sold methylamphetamine for the appellant.  In the first few weeks that Mr Steuer was in custody, he would pass messages to the appellant through Chantelle.  He told Chantelle to let the appellant know that Mr Steuer 'love[d] him' because he wanted the appellant to know that Mr Steuer was doing 'right by him' (ts 1180).

6. Mr Steuer acknowledged that at the beginning his aim was to deceive the police, but that changed after Mr Steuer was told 'a hit [had been] put on [his] life' (ts 1180).

7. Mr Steuer described himself as 'erratic, full of anxiety, crying all the time' and 'still coming down' when he had the visits from his mother, sister and cousin that were recorded in prison (ts 1180).

1. Evidence that was, at least potentially, adverse to Mr Steuer's credit and had to be considered carefully in deciding whether to accept, as truthful and reliable, the evidence Mr Steuer gave which implicated the appellant in the offending (and any explanations Mr Steuer gave in relation to the evidence that was, at least potentially, adverse) was, in summary, as follows:

   (a)During 2018 and 2019, when the events the subject of the appellant's trial occurred, Mr Steuer was a drug user (ts 1062).

   (b)Mr Steuer was a member of the criminal syndicate that operated a significant drug dealing enterprise.  Its operations included importing the 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine into Western Australia.

   (c)Mr Steuer pleaded guilty to the offence of attempting to possess the 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply it to another.  He was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment with parole eligibility.  Mr Steuer's sentence was reduced from 16 years' imprisonment to 11 years' imprisonment in recognition of his promised future assistance to the law enforcement authorities, including his promised future assistance in giving evidence as a State witness at the appellant's trial.

   (d)Mr Steuer had criminal convictions before he committed the offence of attempting to possess the 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply it to another.  His prior criminal record consisted mainly of drug‑related offences and driving offences.

   (e)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that, by the time he made his first statement to police on 24 January 2020, he had decided to cooperate with police and plead guilty (ts 1119).  Mr Steuer also agreed in cross‑examination that, by 24 January 2020, he had decided to tell the police a slightly different story, including things that did not actually happen (ts 1121).  In his third statement to police made on 19 May 2020, Mr Steuer corrected some things he had said in his two earlier statements that were not true.  Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that he told the police lies in the first two statements and he wanted the police to believe those lies.  In the first statement, Mr Steuer created a false occasion on which two men came to his house in October or November 2018.  Mr Steuer falsely said that the two men told him he needed to clear his drug debt and that the two men threatened him.  Mr Steuer made a number of other false assertions in relation to his interaction with the two men, including that the two men had a sawn‑off shotgun with them (ts 1116 ‑ 1119).

   (Mr Steuer said that by 24 January 2020, when he made his first statement, he had decided to tell the police a slightly different story, including things that did not actually happen, to make the police believe him more (ts 1121).  Mr Steuer also said that he had made up some of the things included in his first and second statements because he did not think the police would believe that one man (that is, the appellant) 'had a hold over' him (ts 1115, 1177 ‑ 1178) or would believe him if he said it was just Nik (ts 1124).  Mr Steuer said in his third statement that he knew he should not have lied, but he was scared to take the lies out of the first and second statements in case the police did not believe him.  Mr Steuer denied that if, in his evidence at the trial, he was worried that the jury did not believe him and he was lying, he would maintain that lie.  Mr Steuer insisted that he had been 'fully upfront' at the trial (ts 1125).)

   (f)Mr Steuer denied in cross‑examination that he was going to ask for a discount on his sentence or that he was promised a discount on his sentence in exchange for cooperating with police.  However, Mr Steuer agreed that he was told that he would receive a five‑year discount on his sentence if he agreed to give evidence at the appellant's trial (ts 1119 ‑ 1120).  Mr Steuer asserted in cross‑examination that he was confused about the calculation of his sentence, particularly whether his early plea of guilty was included in the five‑year discount (ts 1120 ‑ 1121).  Later in cross‑examination Mr Steuer agreed that, on the day after he was sentenced, he had a telephone conversation with his mother from custody during which he explained to his mother the sentence he had received, including the five‑year discount (ts 1132 ‑ 1133).

   (Mr Steuer confirmed that he was not promised a discount for his cooperation with the police (ts 1179).  By the time of pleading guilty, Mr Steuer had decided that he wanted a discount on his sentence for providing additional assistance to the State (ts 1142).  Mr Steuer insisted that he was telling the truth when he said he did not understand how his sentence was calculated.  Mr Steuer said that he did not understand the calculation until he spoke to someone in his prison unit (ts 1132 ‑ 1133).)

   (g)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that the lies he had told to police in his first statement were repeated word for word in his second statement to police made on 24 April 2020 (ts 1123). 

   (h)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that, when a handwritten part was added at a later date to the undertaking he signed on 28 April 2020 to give evidence as a State witness consistently with his first and second statements to police, the handwritten part excluded the false assertions in his first and second statements relating to the sawn‑off shotgun, but did not exclude the false assertions in his first and second statements relating to his meeting with the two men (ts 1127 ‑ 1128).

   (Mr Steuer said that he had informed his lawyer, prior to his sentencing, that the information in some of the paragraphs in his first and second statements was untrue (ts 1116, 1124).  Mr Steuer insisted that, at the date of his sentencing, he was prepared to tell the police and the court the entirety of the truth (ts 1129).  Mr Steuer also maintained that, by the date of his sentencing, he had told the police and his lawyer that neither of the two meetings with the two men (mentioned in his first and second statements) had occurred (ts 1131).)

   (i)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that, when he gave the statements to police, he used the statements as a chance to tell a story to police that would help him, rather than an opportunity to tell the truth (ts 1133).

   (Mr Steuer said that at the beginning his aim was to deceive the police, but that changed after Mr Steuer was told 'a hit [had been] put on [his] life' (ts 1180).  Mr Steuer was scared of the appellant as he could be very dangerous (ts 1177 ‑ 1178).)

   (j)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that he has had problems with drugs and alcohol for most of his adult life (ts 1133).  He was a drug addict at the time of his arrest and he knew methylamphetamine was doing harm in his life (ts 1146).  He also agreed in cross‑examination that he had previously experienced auditory hallucinations (ts 1137).  He also agreed in cross‑examination that a week before he was arrested, Mr Steuer saw his general practitioner to get assistance for excessive drug use and he told his general practitioner that he was 'hearing voices' to try and get better prescription drugs.  Mr Steuer agreed that he was prepared to lie to the general practitioner to get the medication he wanted (ts 1138 ‑ 1139).  Mr Steuer also agreed in cross‑examination that, prior to his arrest, he saw his general practitioner to get a mental health plan.  He also agreed in cross‑examination that he lied to the general practitioner to get Xanax (ts 1160).

   (Mr Steuer said that he did not have mental health issues while he was not taking drugs (ts 1160).)

   (k)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that, since he had abused drugs, he has had issues with memory and concentration, particularly remembering names (ts 1140).

   (l)Before the offending in question, Mr Steuer had sold and supplied cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and methylamphetamine (ts 1143 ‑ 1145).

   (m)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that, when he moved to the Little Lake Rise house, he took 'some of the syndicate's property', including the vacuum sealing machine, the green storage container that was used to store the drugs and the Ciphr telephone and that, after he moved to the Little Lake Rise house, his role in the syndicate expanded (ts 1147).

   (Mr Steuer explained that he moved from the Spearwood house to the Little Lake Rise house because he had met his partner, he wanted to 'clean [himself] up' and he wanted to try and take up fly‑in/fly‑out work again (ts 1179).  Mr Steuer took the syndicate's property to the Little Lake Rise house because he was not going to leave the items at the Spearwood house and they were expensive (ts 1180).)

   (n)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that, during his first few weeks in custody, he was anxious about electronic devices and accounts that needed collection or deletion and he was worried that those devices and accounts would incriminate him.  Mr Steuer wanted to 'tidy all of that up' before he spoke to police and gave them his version of events (ts 1155).  Mr Steuer asked his cousin, Chantelle, to collect Mr Parker's Ciphr telephone that Mr Parker had thrown over the back fence at the Little Lake Rise house and the surveillance hard drive from the house (ts 1156).

   (o)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that he was prepared to lie to other members of the syndicate (ts 1156). 

   (Mr Steuer explained that the other members of the syndicate were dangerous people (ts 1156).)

   (p)Mr Steuer asked members of his family, including his cousin Chantelle, to delete his Facebook and Wickr accounts, to 'sort out' his Instagram account and to wipe his laptop (ts 1157 ‑ 1158).

   (Mr Steuer said that at the time he made those requests of members of his family he was trying to protect his interests and the interests of Nik and the other associates in the syndicate.  However, at the trial Mr Steuer was looking after his own interests, and not the others after 'what they did' to him.  Mr Steuer said it was about 'justice' (ts 1158).)

   (q)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that the first time he had ever said that 'Sales.admin', on delivering the Ciphr telephone, told him 'Nik's name is in the phone', was to the jury and that it was not in his police statements (ts 1164).

   (r)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that one of the first messages he sent on the Ciphr telephone was to ask 'Ethnic Brad Pitt' who they were, despite having been told that the contact person was Nik (ts 1165).

   (Mr Steuer did not accept that knowing real names undermined the point of having encrypted technology.  Mr Steuer explained that if you did not provide the password the device was protected and the messages could be set to self‑delete (ts 1165 ‑ 1166).)

   (s)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that his Ciphr telephone was wiped because he deliberately gave the police the wrong password to access the telephone (ts 1166).

   (t)Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that he had been comfortable using drugs on and off for more than a decade (ts 1168).

   (u)On 17 May 2019, while Mr Steuer was in custody, he was visited by his cousin Chantelle, his sister Rebecca and his mother Lucinda (ts 1169).  During the visit Mr Steuer stated 'there's no way for me to hand anyone else in because I didn't know anyone's name' (ts 1170).  During the visit Mr Steuer also said, 'The device I had - everyone's name on the device was protected'.  During the visit Mr Steuer also said, 'so there is no way I can get myself killed or turn anyone in … because I can claim they said they would kill me if I didn't do this to [sic] them' (ts 1171).  Mr Steuer agreed in cross‑examination that during the visit, in effect, he discussed with his family members a dishonest version of events which may assist him the most.  On 30 May 2019, while Mr Steuer was in custody, he was again visited by family members.  During the visit Mr Steuer stated that he had lied to a man who was put in his prison cell and who he thought was a police officer (ts 1175).

   (Mr Steuer said he could not be truthful when his cousin Chantelle was around because anything he said would be relayed to the appellant (ts 1176).  Mr Steuer believed Chantelle had told the appellant where Mr Steuer's mother lived, which led to her house being set on fire (ts 1157).  Mr Steuer also said that he was 'erratic, full of anxiety, crying all the time' and 'still coming down' when he had the visits from his mother, sister and cousin in prison (ts 1180).  Mr Steuer also said he knew that what was said during prison visits was recorded; he realised that if he said anything that incriminated his associates they would find out through their lawyers; and he said things deliberately during the visits in the hope of being overheard (ts 1169 ‑ 1170).  Mr Steuer also said that he made the statement 'didn't know anyone's name' because he was trying to reassure his family that nothing would happen to him.  Mr Steuer also said that he made the statement 'so there is no way I can get myself killed or turn anyone in … because I can claim they said they would kill me if I didn't do this to [sic] them' to reassure his family and he wanted to tell the authorities that he was going to lie about being threatened with death (ts 1171).  Mr Steuer added that at the time he was still 'coming down' and was 'a bit off [his] head on benzos' (ts 1172).)

2. During his evidence:

   (a)Mr Steuer denied fabricating his evidence that the appellant was Ethnic Brad Pitt (ts 1140);

   (b)Mr Steuer denied that, when he knew the police were 'after' the appellant, he decided he would name the appellant in this matter for Mr Steuer's own benefit (ts 1155);

   (c)Mr Steuer said he wanted the jury to believe what he said in evidence as he was there 'to do the right thing' (ts 1156);

   (d)Mr Steuer said he did not lie when he told the jury that it was the appellant who put him in the drug storage role (ts 1162);

   (e)Mr Steuer said he was telling the truth when he gave evidence that 'Sales Admin' had told him that Nik's name was already in the Ciphr telephone and that she gave him the real name of the person, being Nik, that he would be communicating with in an encrypted communication forum.  He also said that 'Sales Admin' understood that Nik knew Mr Steuer (ts 1162 ‑ 1163);

   (f)Mr Steuer denied that he made up that he and 'Sales Admin' discussed the real name of one of the participants of the syndicate (ts 1163);

   (g)Mr Steuer maintained that he had met Ethnic Brad Pitt and that he knew that person's real name (ts 1176); and

   (h)Mr Steuer confirmed that the appellant was Ethnic Brad Pitt or EBP (ts 1180 ‑ 1181).

3. The honesty and reliability of Mr Steuer's evidence that identified the appellant as Ethnic Brad Pitt or EBP must be evaluated having regard to the whole of the evidence at trial, including the following:

   (a)Mr Steuer's identification of Mr Parker as Beermonster and Brickie was unchallenged at trial. Mr Parker's membership of the syndicate was not disputed at trial. Further, having regard to the trial judge's directions, the jury by their verdict in respect of the appellant must have been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Parker was the principal offender who committed the offence of attempting to possess a trafficable quantity of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply it to another. See [584] ‑ [587] above.

   (b)Mr Parker went to the Bunnings car park and transferred the black storage tubs from the rear of the Hyundai panel van into the rear of vehicle 1GRR 114 immediately upon Beermonster being instructed on the 'Delivery' Ciphr chat to go to Bunnings and collect the tubs.  So, Mr Steuer accurately identified Mr Parker as Beermonster, notwithstanding that Mr Steuer was not a party to the 'Delivery' Ciphr chat.

   (c)Mr Steuer's evidence that he had been instructed to take photographs of the packages of methylamphetamine and send them to Clark Kent and Ethnic Brad Pitt, notwithstanding that the instruction had been given to Beermonster on the 'Delivery' Ciphr chat to which Mr Steuer was not a party, was consistent with other objective evidence as to Ethnic Brad Pitt's role in the syndicate.

   (d)Mr Steuer's identification of Mr Campbell as Hollaway was unchallenged at trial.  Mr Campbell's membership of the syndicate was not disputed at trial.

   (e)The appellant's sudden departure from Perth, in company with Mr Campbell, on 11 May 2019 was circumstantial evidence of guilt that was independent of Mr Steuer and his evidence.  Police entered and searched 7 Little Lake Rise on 10 May 2019, at about 11.31 am, and arrested Mr Parker and Mr Steuer.  The syndicate had been exposed and compromised.  Mr Campbell was informed of what had occurred at 7 Little Lake Rise at about 11.41 am on 10 May 2019 during messages exchanged between Tempa (that is, Mr Legg) and Hollaway (that is, Mr Campbell).  On 11 May 2019, at about 12.10 pm, the appellant and Mr Campbell purchased return air tickets from Perth to Thailand via Singapore.  They were captured on CCTV footage together at Perth International Airport at 12.42 pm that day.  The appellant and Mr Campbell must have arrived at Perth International Airport before 12.42 pm and they purchased the tickets before that time.  They departed on the flight to Thailand via Singapore at about 2.05 pm that day.  The appellant was due to return to Perth on the purchased return flight on 21 May 2019, but he failed to board that flight (ts 591 ‑ 593; Exhibit 1).  Ultimately, however, on 19 January 2020 the appellant returned voluntarily to Perth.

   (f)Mr Campbell was one of the first members of the syndicate to learn that the police had entered and searched 7 Little Lake Rise on 10 May 2019 at about 11.31 am.  Mr Campbell was, on the evidence at trial, an important member of the syndicate.  The appellant's sudden departure from Perth, in company with Mr Campbell, on 11 May 2019 demonstrated that the appellant was associated with an important member of the syndicate and was willing and able to travel overseas with him at remarkably short notice and to remain away from his wife, Ms Sutherland, and their young child for more than eight months.  During the period he was in Thailand the appellant sent some screenshots to Ms Sutherland of a realty listing for a property in Vietnam and a series of messages about the property, including 'be nice for us.  Perfect really in a small secure complex' (ts 1594 ‑ 1603; Exhibit 86.1 ‑ 86.23).  The sending of the screenshots of the realty listing and the related series of messages established that the appellant contemplated not returning to Perth and contemplated instead relocating to Vietnam with his wife and their young child.

   (g)The appellant's further association with members of the syndicate was demonstrated by his interaction with the handle 'Meat Hooks' while the appellant was using the handle 'Gingerbreadman' during his absence overseas (Exhibit 86.1 ‑ 86.23).  The interaction suggested a degree of familiarity and friendship between 'Meat Hooks' and 'Gingerbreadman'.  Meat Hooks was a member of the syndicate.  The person using the handle 'Meat Hooks' was not identified at trial, but there was evidence that, on one occasion, Alterman (that is, Mr Steuer) had paid 'Meat Hooks' $8,500 contemporaneously with payments made to other members of the syndicate.  See the photographs taken of the contents of Mr Legg's telephone at Exhibit 47.1 ‑ 47.151.

   (h)The appellant's and Ms Sutherland's access to and use of Ciphr enabled devices connected with Ms Mancuso, who used the handle 'Sales Admin' and who supplied Ciphr devices to the syndicate, is consistent with the appellant being a member of the syndicate.  Although the use of a Ciphr enabled device is not of itself unlawful, evidence adduced at trial established that overwhelmingly Ciphr enabled devices are associated with criminal activity (ts 1509).

   (i)Detective Taylor gave evidence at trial to the effect that sophisticated drug syndicates often operate with numerous people performing different roles.  Those towards the top of the hierarchy usually direct others and have a greater distance between themselves and the drugs involved in illicit drug transactions.  It is to be expected that a person towards the top of the hierarchy will have minimal or no physical contact with the drugs.  Similarly, it is to be expected that a person towards the top of the hierarchy will not have physical possession of items commonly associated with drug dealing other than, possibly, a communication device such as a Ciphr enabled device or large amounts of cash (ts 1511 ‑ 1513).  Consistently with Detective Taylor's evidence, no paraphernalia commonly associated with drug dealing was found at the appellant's residence, but about $59,005 cash was found (ts 1324 ‑ 1327).

1. At the trial it was suggested on behalf of the appellant that Mr Steuer was motivated to lie about the appellant being Ethnic Brad Pitt or EBP to secure a discount on his sentence for cooperating with the law enforcement authorities.  However, the undertaking given by Mr Steuer did not relate solely to the appellant.  The undertaking also related to Mr Campbell, Mr Halsey, Mr Parker and Mr Legg (Exhibit 48).  Further, there was no doubt on the evidence at trial that Mr Parker used the handle Beermonster and Mr Legg used the handle Tempa.  This indicated that Mr Steuer was giving correct and reliable evidence about their identities.  The fact that Mr Steuer could have secured a discount on his sentence by implicating Mr Parker and Mr Legg diminishes, to some extent, the force of the appellant's suggestion at trial that Mr Steuer was motivated to lie about the appellant being Ethnic Brad Pitt or EBP to secure a discount on his sentence for cooperation.

2. It is apparent from the trial record that Mr Steuer was a person of bad character.  For example, he was a member of the criminal syndicate that operated the significant drug dealing enterprise; he pleaded guilty to the offence of attempting to possess the 55.9 kg of methylamphetamine with intent to sell or supply it to another; he had a prior criminal record; and he had a history of telling lies, including telling lies to the police who were investigating the syndicate and telling lies in some of his witness statements that implicated the appellant in the offending.  These matters had at least the potential to impact upon an assessment of Mr Steuer's honesty and reliability as a witness.

3. Mr Steuer had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues.  He received a discount on his sentence for the offending in question in return for his undertaking to give evidence against the appellant.  There were internal inconsistencies in his evidence.  These matters had at least the potential to influence whether Mr Steuer's evidence which implicated the appellant in the offending should be accepted.

4. Mr Steuer gave evidence that, upon being given his Ciphr telephone by Ms Mancuso, she informed him that there were already two contacts on it: one was Ms Mancuso (Sales Admin) and the other was Nik (Ethnic Brad Pitt).  The State did not anticipate that Mr Steuer would give that evidence and the evidence had not been disclosed to the defence.  On the one hand, Mr Steuer's failure to refer to this aspect of his evidence in his witness statements cast doubt on the truthfulness and reliability of at least that evidence.  On the other, whether the evidence was a recent invention by Mr Steuer had to be determined having regard to the whole of his evidence, the manner in which he presented generally as a witness and the plausibility of his evidence and explanations generally.

5. Mr Steuer gave evidence that, after being given his Ciphr telephone by Ms Mancuso, he messaged Ethnic Brad Pitt with an enquiry to the effect of 'Who are you?'.  Mr Steuer said that he received the response 'It's Wogs', being a description by which Mr Steuer recognised the appellant.  On the one hand, that information was already known to Mr Steuer because Ms Mancuso informed him, upon giving him his Ciphr telephone, that one of the two contacts on it was Nik (Ethnic Brad Pitt).  The alleged response, namely 'It's Wogs', was a surprising response.  Also, the enquiry and the alleged response were unnecessary having regard to what Ms Mancuso had told Mr Steuer and the enquiry and the alleged response had at least the potential to defeat the advantage of using pseudonyms and encryption.  On the other, it was not inherently unlikely, in the circumstances, that Mr Steuer would message Ethnic Brad Pitt with an enquiry to the effect of 'Who are you?'.  The enquiry and the alleged response were between people who were members of a criminal drug syndicate.  A person in Mr Steuer's position would not necessarily accept, at face value, Ms Mancuso's information that Nik was Ethnic Brad Pitt.

6. Mr Steuer's evidence about the reason why he moved from the Spearwood house to the Little Lake Rise house and his evidence about the reason why he took with him the items that had been given to him by the syndicate was evasive.

7. In our opinion, the matters relied upon by senior counsel for the appellant to impugn Mr Steuer's honesty and reliability were highly relevant in assessing whether Mr Steuer's evidence which implicated the appellant in the offending should be accepted.

8. However it is apparent from the transcript of the trial that Mr Steuer was, in general but not completely, straightforward in acknowledging those matters.  Most, but not all, of his explanations appear from the transcript to have been plausible.

9. Mr Steuer was subjected to a lengthy cross‑examination.  During the cross‑examination, Mr Steuer maintained that he had met Ethnic Brad Pitt; that he knew Ethnic Brad Pitt's real name; and that the appellant was Ethnic Brad Pitt or EBP.  The jury had the significant advantage of seeing and hearing Mr Steuer give the whole of his evidence and, in that context, evaluating the credibility and reliability of the evidence he gave; in particular, the evidence he gave which implicated the appellant in the offending.  That advantage is not shared equally by this court reading the transcript.

10. The significance of many of the matters raised by senior counsel for the appellant depends upon an assessment of the explanations given by Mr Steuer in the context of the whole of his evidence combined with the other evidence adduced as part of the State's case.  The jury's significant advantage over this court was capable of resolving any doubt about the honesty and reliability of Mr Steuer's evidence which implicated the appellant.

11. Subject to acknowledging the jury's significant advantage, we are satisfied, on our assessment of the trial record as a whole, that Mr Steuer's evidence that implicated the appellant in the offending (in particular, Mr Steuer's evidence that he had met Ethnic Brad Pitt, that he knew Ethnic Brad Pitt's real name and that the appellant was Ethnic Brad Pitt or EBP) was honest and reliable.  Subject to acknowledging the jury's significant advantage, we are satisfied, on our assessment of the trial record as a whole, that Mr Steuer's evidence on these critical issues was not attended by a reasonable doubt.

12. The jury, acting reasonably, was not precluded by the state of the evidence at trial from convicting the appellant.  The jury, acting reasonably, was entitled to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt (and, subject to acknowledging the jury's significant advantage, on our assessment of the trial record we are also satisfied beyond reasonable doubt), upon the combined force of all the facts and circumstances established by the evidence, that the appellant committed the charged offence.

13. The trial record does not require the conclusion that the jury must necessarily have had a doubt about the appellant's guilt.  The verdict of guilty of the charged offence was not unreasonable.  The verdict was supported by evidence that the jury was entitled to accept and inferences that the jury was entitled to draw.  The nature and quality of the evidence at the trial was sufficient to remove any doubt that the appellant was guilty.  After paying full regard to the consideration that the jury was the tribunal of fact entrusted with the responsibility of determining guilt or innocence, and after paying full regard to the consideration that the jury had the benefit of having seen and heard the witnesses, we do not have a reasonable doubt as to the appellant's guilt or as to the correctness of his conviction.  It would not be dangerous to permit the verdict to stand.

14. The ground of appeal fails.

Conclusion

1. We would grant leave to appeal.  However, the ground of appeal has not been made out.  The appeal must be dismissed.

I certify that the preceding paragraph(s) comprise the reasons for decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

WH

Research Associate to the Honourable President Buss

28 JUNE 2024