But earlier this year, a man attempted to break into the Goulburn Correctional Centre to deliver drugs and other contraband.

He was captured while fleeing from the facility after the botched break-in and, on Wednesday, received a two-year custodial sentence in Goulburn Local Court for his efforts.

Gregory Alan O’Brien, 32, of Blackett NSW, appeared in the dock on August 15 where he pleaded guilty to entering land with intent to commit an indictable offence, unlawfully entering a place of detention, possessing a prohibited drug, bringing a prohibited drug into a place of detention, and supplying a prohibited drug.

Police facts tendered in court said on February 10 at 11.44pm, on a tip-off, Corrective Services staff observed a Toyota Camry station wagon driven by O’Brien park at the rear of the Goulburn jail near X Wing.

O’Brien was seen to jump the boundary fence near a water tank and maintain a crouching position for a short time before moving off in the direction of the kitchen area. 

He was observed placing items from a backpack through a steel gate into a garbage bin.

Intercepted and challenged by Corrective Services staff, O’Brien fled back towards the boundary fence.

O’Brien ran 150m before falling down an embankment where he was apprehended by Goulburn Correctional Centre officers.

Police arrived a short time later and arrested him. 

A search of his backpack revealed a parcel containing 20 packets of White Ox tobacco and two packets of cigarette papers.

When asked about what he had put in the bin, he said he had placed two parcels there.

The police located the parcels and found them to contain: 10 packets of White Ox tobacco, four packets of Tally Ho papers, three mobile telephones, six lighters, five compact discs, two balloons filled with methyl-amphetamine weighing 5.5g, gel caps containing Anavar steroids, 10 diazepam tablets and a small plastic bag of cannabis  weighing 3.37g, three SIM cards, two memory cards, one memory card reader and 5.7g of buprenorphine wafers.

When police interviewed O’Brien, he told them that he had attended a number of locations that day and collected the parcels from unknown people.

He had bought the 30 packets of White Ox for $2100 and five CDs for $100, he said, but conceded he had received $3100, which was deposited into his bank account as payment for the goods, his time and petrol.

In court on Wednesday, O’Brien’s solicitor said his client had a history of drug abuse and that this had caused his offending.

“He started on cannabis at [age] 13, ecstasy at 15 and ice at 21,” the solicitor said.

“He was a problem child, but despite that he still attained his Certificate III in tiling from TAFE and has worked as a tiler.

“In 2013, he stopped using drugs because his son was born, but a home invasion in which he was ‘knee-capped’ precipitated his return to drug use.” 

She said O’Brien had been in custody since his arrest. 

“He was heavily into drug use when he received a communication that he could earn $1000 from the venture, so he went to the jail and made his misguided attempt to get in,” the solicitor said.

“It was not a very sophisticated plan to get his items into the complex, but it was done for money to finance his drug habit.

“The people he associated with are a large factor in his re-offending.”

Brett Diggins, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said it was a serious offence and called for a sentence that would assist in the general deterrence of people taking drugs into jail.

“He drove 190 kilometres to do this and he did it for money,” Mr Diggins said.

“Taking drugs into jail is a danger to prisoners and to staff who control them.”

He said O’Brien’s prospects for rehabilitation from drug use was unlikely.

“He has had access to rehabilitation programs over a number of years,” he said.

“These do not reflect any change in his life.”

Magistrate Geraldine Beattie said O’Brien had attempted to deliver a large quantity of prohibited items to inmates.

“You were doing it for money,” she said.

“What you did was of great concern to the community. It is not uncommon for people to secrete items and attempt to get them into the jail, but you were effectively breaking into it to deliver these goods.”

She said the maximum sentence for such an the offence was seven years’ jail, but that she was limited to sentencing for two years in the Local Court jurisdiction.

“Noting the variety of items such as drugs, tobacco and phones, they are items that would clearly be valuable in the prison,” she said. 

“You were on parole at the time of the offence.

“I accept you have a long history of drug addiction, but it is your choice about the company you keep. 

“There is an impact on people in the jail community who suffer as a result of such offending.

“I note there is a medium- to high-risk of you re-offending.”

She sentenced O’Brien to two years’ jail, with a non-parole period of 15 months.