The comments came during an appeal of a former Echuca bouncer, who was caught dealing ice twice in the space of five months to fund his own drug habit.

Brendan James Avis, 25, of Echuca, appealed his one-month jail sentence in the Bendigo County Court on Thursday on a charge of possessing a trafficable amount of ice.

Police caught Avis with 3.7 grams of ice – enough for 37 individual deals – while he was playing poker machines at the American Hotel in Echuca on April 23 last year.

He was also found with $710 in cash and a mobile phone which contained text messages detailing ice deals from earlier in the day, offering people “nice stuff”.

The arrest was five months after he was last caught with a trafficable amount of ice in Echuca, in November 2015. He was convicted and placed on an 18-month community corrections order for the offence.

Avis was caught again in possession of ice on November 11 last year, along with possessing cannabis and the suspected proceeds of crime, while driving an unregistered vehicle without a driver’s licence.

Those matters will appear before the Echuca Magistrates’ Court on April 12.

On Thursday, defence counsel Matthew Mahady said Avis had attempted to stop using ice, but only lasted one day in rehabilitation in Wagga Wagga before catching a train back to Echuca.

Mr Mahady said Avis’ ice habit started while he worked as a bouncer in Echuca, and soon he was pooling his friends’ money to purchase ice for the group.

“He would then sell to his mates to continue his use,” he said.

“This is something that is a concern in Echuca.”

Mr Mahady said a lengthy community corrections order would be more beneficial to the community than a jail term.

Judge Paul Lacava said the story “was a familiar one”, with ice trafficking a “prevalent offence”.

“People above your client in the trade – the suppliers – employ people such as (Avis) to do their dirty work in the belief that if he gets caught, he’ll come to court, plead… and the court gives him a slap over the wrist, a community corrections order, and life goes on,” he said.

“It’s a variation on how people get juveniles to commit burglaries.

“In terms of trafficking, they’re using the system in a way to allow production to distribution.”

Judge Lacava rejected the appeal, and Avis was sent to jail for one month.