A life sentence not for murder

Edward Gay at the NZ Herald reports:

Christian Clifton was on bail for cooking 10 batches of methamphetamine when police raided a shipping container and found the P cook at it again.

The 48 year-old was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years at the Auckland District Court today after pleading guilty to 10 charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and other drugs charges.

It is understood that it is the first time that a person has been sentenced to life in prison at the District Courts in New Zealand.

And possibly the first time for drug offences. I checked that this was possible and not a typo and indeed S6(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act does allow this. So why did he get life?

It appears he was on parole for previous drug supply crimes, offended while on parole. He got bail, and then offended again while on both parole and bail. I guess at that stage the court realised that if he was not behind bars, he would be offending.

I think it is a good thing that a court has used a maximum sentence. They are there for a reason.

According to the Sensible Sentencing Trust, two others have had life sentences for drug trafficking.