ABC News Australia
A Broome man has been jailed for dealing LSD, magic mushrooms, ketamine and other substances in the Kimberley community.
Stuart Ross Clifton, 56, was sentenced to four years and four months at Broome District Court on Friday.
What’s next?
Clifton will be eligible for parole in July 2027.
A Kimberley man who says he was trying to “help people” by selling them hallucinogenic drugs has been jailed for four years.
Stuart Ross Clifton faced Broome District Court on March 28 after pleading guilty to a string of drug-related offences.
The 56-year-old was arrested and charged in 2023 after a parcel containing 28 grams of MDMA was discovered at the Kimberley town’s post office.
A subsequent search of Clifton’s Broome home netted ketamine (1.2g), magic mushrooms (253g), 750 millilitres of cannabis oil, DMT, LSD and an additional 14 grams of MDMA, as well as $1410 in cash.
He was charged with possessing psilocin, dipentylone, MDMA and LSD with the intent to sell and supply.
Clifton told police he used the LSD while also selling it for $60 a tab.
District Court Judge Gary Massey determined a total term of imprisonment of four years and four months was appropriate for Clifton’s offending.
“You had a cocktail of drugs, it was sophisticated offending and you were doing so in order to support your own income,” he said.
Clifton was arrested outside the Broome Post Office in August 2023. (Joshua Spong)
Judge Massey said Clifton’s set-up, including a room dedicated to production of psycobillin mushrooms, was a “sophisticated enterprise”, with the 56-year-old using cryptocurrency to source drugs from the dark web.
‘Immense’ impact of drugs
Despite Clifton’s emphasis on personal use, Judge Massey said the commercial nature of his enterprise clearly aggravated the nature of his offending.
“You may well have had positive experiences from your use of drugs, but you would have to be living under a rock not to know how seriously drugs affect our community,” he said.
“Your contention that you were helping people simply does not reflect the reality.”
Clifton claimed in a pre-sentence report he supplied substances to others as “treatment”, something the judge questioned.
“You were, in effect, apart from methamphetamine, a one-stop shop for others,” he said.
Clifton was sentenced in the Broome District Court on Friday. (ABC Kimberley: Tom Forrest)
Judge Massey heard Clifton had been using drugs and particularly mushrooms and LSD to “help” his mental health, with a pre-sentencing psychological report identifying depressive personality traits and childhood trauma as issues the 56-year-old was confronting.
The judge acknowledged Clifton had taken steps toward rehabilitation, undergoing substance misuse counselling and psychological counselling.
But he said Clifton’s insistence he was “trying to help people” suggested he did not have any remorse for his actions.
He said the need to deter others from supplying drugs to the Kimberley community meant the four-year prison term was an appropriate punishment.
“The harm that drugs cause to our society is immense,”
he said.
Clifton was fined a total of $2,200 for possession of ketamine, cannabis oil and DMT.
An order for destruction of the drugs and forfeiture of the cash was made, with Clifton declared a drug trafficker.
He will be eligible for parole in July 2027.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-03/stuart-clifton-mdma-dark-web-jailed/105132512
