SUPPLYING cocaine to a group of friends gave Les Mason a sense of empowerment and meant he was more than just “Willie Mason’s brother”, Newcastle District Court has heard.
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Leslie Charles Mason, 38, of Cooks Hill, was supported by his younger, more “well-known” brother, Willie, embattled Newcastle Knight Jarrod Mullen and a host of family and friends as he faced sentencing on Friday for supplying 58 grams of cocaine in 2015.
Les Mason told Judge Roy Ellis he was “glad he got caught” when he did and said he had never supplied drugs to make a profit.
Instead, Les Mason said he used his connections to source the drugs from Sydney, which he then split up among a group of his friends.
It’s a frequently repeated claim by those found with moderate amounts of prohibited drugs, and one Judge Ellis said he routintely rejected.
But in this case he accepted what Les Mason said.
And, citing the insight he had gained since being arrested and the “significant positive contribution he had made to the community” through youth mentoring work he had instigated, Judge Ellis found Les Mason was “extremely unlikely” to re-offend.
The former boxer, who acknowledged that, to some extent, he had become known as “Willie Mason’s brother”, came to court anticipating he may not be going home.
But Judge Ellis adjourned the matter so Les Mason could be assessed for an intensive corrections order, a custodial sentence served in the community.
Les Mason’s Cooks Hill unit was raided on May 29, 2015, and police seized 58 grams, or about two ounces, of cocaine, as well as some steroids and cannabis.
He had been due to face a trial last month, but pleaded guilty in December last year to supplying a prohibited drug.
He told the court he wasn’t a street level drug dealer, who recruited new clients and sought to make a profit.
“Because we were mates sometimes we would all put in money and I would get it and split it up,” Les Mason said.
“But sometimes someone would have the whole lot and we would fix them up.
“So it could have quite easily been at someone else’s house.”
But under questioning from his barrister, Paul Rosser, QC, Les Mason agreed that distribution was at his discretion, a fact he said “gave him a sense of empowerment”.
“Why do you think that you needed that?” Mr Rosser asked.
“Do you think it might have something to do with being Willie Mason’s brother.”
Les Mason agreed.
Mr Rosser raised the point again with Judge Ellis during sentencing submissions.
“It gave him a position of empowerment as he saw it, he recognises utterly wrongly, but he wasn't Willie Mason's brother,” Mr Rosser said.
“He was Les Mason and he controls this situation.
“He certainly, as he said, the experience has given him insight into that perceived status and questioned his reasons.
“And I think he's realised that status is meaningless and totally unreal.”
Judge Ellis was clearly impressed by Les Mason’s willingness to mentor unemployed youth.
“I think he might also understand that not withstanding the success his brother at playing football, that a greater measure of success can potentially come from him in terms of his mentoring,” Judge Ellis said.
“His brother is a great footballer and brought enjoyment, no doubt, to people who enjoyed watching football.
“But if your client can change the course of a few lives by his mentoring then he ought to be able to walk away and say I had a pretty good impact too.”
Judge Ellis noted there were several references provided for Les Mason, including one from former Newcastle Knight and Rugby League Players Association Chair and General President Clint Newton.
Les Mason, who in 2010 was fined $1000 for possessing nine tablets that were initially thought to be ecstasy, but turned out to be methylamphetamine, will be placed on an intensive corrections order in May if he is deemed suitable, Judge Ellis said.