Shane Terence Ball: Dad who became drug mule for ‘quick cash’, tried to flee cops on scooter jailed for years

A dad who “made a terrible decision” to become a meth mule then fled police in a farcical chase across three Perth suburbs has been jailed for five-and-a-half years. Border Force officers found 406g of the drug in the lining of two leather-bound notebooks when they examined a parcel that arrived in Perth from Malaysia in August 2021. When Shane Terence Ball collected the package from the doorstep of the Heathridge home it had been addressed to, Australian Federal Police had replaced the 80 per cent pure substance with an inert material. He rode off on his electric scooter to peek inside and when police then tried to arrest him, he took off again. At one stage, he collided with a wooden fence in Connolly but continued running on foot in Currambine. Along the way, Bell cast off his helmet, scooter, phone, knife and motorcycle gloves at various points — also separately ditching the cardboard box the meth was contained in and the drugs. He was eventually found hiding in a shed. Sentencing Bell on Friday, District Court of WA Judge Wendy Hughes said the value of the meth, if sold as street deals, was up to $615,790. But once he had passed it on to a man named Jason, he would only have pocketed “a small amount of money”. She noted Bell was a hard-working labourer who only had a “short” criminal history, with no stints in custody, and had used drugs intermittently but not for a long time. “It seems to me that the drivers and what caused you to make this terrible decision is your association with people who involve themselves in the drug world, that you saw an opportunity for financial gain,” Judge Hughes said. “You made a terrible decision. Perhaps you were a little bit naive and that you didn’t fully appreciate the legal consequences of assuming such a risk. “People who participate in the illicit drug trade at any level must expect to receive heavy penalties.” Bell will become eligible for parole after serving three-and-a-half years behind bars.