Cocaine dealer who had mice crawl on his face and nibble his toes will walk free from jail EARLY

A drug supplier whose jail conditions included mice crawling on his face and nibbling on his feet during a severe rodent plague has won a small cut in his sentence.

Ahmed Taha’s appeal was told he reported ‘mice chewing on his shoes, eating his food, crawling on his face, nibbling on his feet and depositing faeces on his bed’.

The then 27-year-old was jailed for five years with a non-parole period of two years and six months in November 2020 after pleading guilty to four counts of supplying cocaine.

A drug supplier whose jail conditions included mice crawling on his face and nibbling on his feet during a severe rodent plague has won a small cut in his sentence (stock image)

Taha, who had a history of drug-related offending, admitted that between July and September 2019 he facilitated drug supply to over 30 customers.

He challenged his sentence on grounds relating to his borderline intellectual functioning and a claim the sentencing judge erred in how she considered his pre-sentence custody.

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the latter ground, resentencing Taha to four years with a non-parole period of two years and three months.

The judges ruled that the rat plague and hardships imposed on prisoners as part of the necessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic were factors warranting reducing the sentence that would otherwise be imposed.

‘It was common ground that, in May 2021, the applicant was housed in the Wellington Correctional Centre during which time there was a severe rat plague which impacted upon the correctional centre,’ Justice Michael Walton said.

Taha said he lived in these conditions, which included the mice nibbling and crawling, for about three months.

‘I do not consider that it may be inferred, as submitted by the Crown, that the extent of the problems experienced by the applicant in Wellington due to the rat plague were common to everyone residing in that area,’ the judge said.

‘They were ultimately resolved by the applicant being removed to another facility.

‘The hardship suffered by the applicant was for a finite period and is, therefore transitory in nature akin to, for example, offenders being confined in protective custody for periods of their sentence.

‘I shall take this factor into account in resentencing, but, in these circumstances, the weight afforded to it cannot be substantial.’

The judges also took into account the increased hardships on custodial conditions associated with COVID-19.

Justice Walton said Taha’s criminal history denied him leniency, finding his prospects of rehabilitation were at best guarded and he is at medium to high risk of reoffending.