Cory Graham Hambley: Albany meth dealer handed suspended prison term, declared serial family violence offender

An Albany drug dealer has been handed a suspended prison term after police found extensive evidence of his methamphetamine sales and illegal weapons possession, and was also declared a serial family violence offender. Cory Graham Hambley, 31, appeared in Albany Magistrates Court on October 27 for a trial hearing on four charges, but changed his pleas to guilty before the trial began and was sentenced on six charges, including two he had been previously convicted of. Hambley pleaded guilty to possessing prohibited drugs with intent to sell or supply, having ready access to both weapons and illegal drugs, possessing stolen or unlawfully obtained property, and destroying property, and already stood convicted of possessing a prohibited weapon and drug paraphernalia. Police prosecutor Sen. Const. Meagan Diver also made an application to declare Hambley a serial family violence offender, which Magistrate Andrew Maughan approved. Sen. Const. Diver told the court five of the six charges related to a home investigation in Bayonet Head on October 25, 2024, when police responded to reports of a disturbance and found an array of illegal items including 1.8g of methamphetamine, digital scales with traces of methamphetamine, glass smoking implements, multiple empty clip-seal bags, and a small dagger. They also found $1300 cash in Hambley’s wallet, suspecting at least part of this was obtained through drug sales. Hambley told police he had lawfully obtained the cash through a Centrelink payment, but Sen. Const. Diver said no proof of this had ever been supplied to police. She said Hambley was co-operative with police while they investigated the residence, pointing them to a homemade cattle prod taser he kept in his car, and handing over and unlocking his phone. On his phone, police found extensive conversations with drug buyers, including specific amounts and prices. The sixth charge related to an incident of domestic violence outside a home in Lockyer on January 3, 2025, when Hambley was in an argument with the victim and forced her out of the house, stamping on her mobile phone and smashing it to pieces. Defence counsel Elizabeth Hamilton said many of Hambley’s actions belied an ongoing struggle with illicit substances, and proposed a pre-sentence order to keep him accountable for taking steps towards rehabilitation. Mr Maughan said the court was well aware of the “evils” methamphetamine brought to the community and it needed to deter those involved in the “insidious” trade of the drug. He said while the amount of methamphetamine recovered was relatively small, the large amount of cash in Hambley’s wallet meant he could reasonably infer he had recently sold more of the drug. He was fined a total of $2250 and given a seven-month jail term which was conditionally suspended for 12 months. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)