Drug dealing brothers lose appeal

Joshua and Kurt Toole lived together at New Lambton Heights where they sourced the drugs from a Sydney supplier to distribute to a network of dealers around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

Their brother, Paul Toole, is the Member for Bathurst.

Joshua Toole was the principal of the operation while Kurt Toole considered himself the muscle.

While they were under surveillance in mid-2010, Joshua Toole was responsible for supplying 95 kilograms of cannabis and six kilograms of methamphetamine while Kurt Toole eventually pleaded guilty to supplying 17 kilograms of cannabis and one kilogram of methamphetamine.

Joshua also had a deposit box at a Charlestown bank that had $200,000 cash in it while Kurt was also sentenced for other offences including bashing and intimidating a rival.

Kurt Toole and others barged into the man’s home and bashed him out of fear that the victim was trying to start up a rival drug operation.

After the incident, Kurt Toole sent text messages to his fellow thugs thanking them for being ‘‘soldiers’’.

‘‘Thats wat [sic] we are all about striking and standing our ground and showing people who we all are we are served to survive soldiers and brothers,’’ he wrote in a text message.

Kurt Toole also torched one of his dealer’s cars at Dudley because he thought the dealer had ‘‘dogged’’ on him to the police.

Joshua was jailed for 14 years with a non-parole period of nine years while Kurt was jailed for 10 years and nine months with a non-parole period of seven years.

They appealed the severity of their sentences.

Kurt Toole argued that the judge failed to properly take into account his addiction to steroids and gambling while they were both aggrieved by the sentences handed down to others who were also involved in the operation.

The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeals on Thursday.

Kurt Toole will be eligible for parole in 2017 while Joshua Toole will be eligible for release in 2019.