Former Home and Away actor learns fate over Byron Bay drugs charges

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A former TV star who admitted to supplying drugs in northern NSW won’t be jailed over the offence.

Putu Sugiarta Winchester-Stanton, 44, pleaded guilty to one charge of supplying cocaine in Byron Bay.

He was sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday to an 18-month Intensive Corrections Order.

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The former actor – who had roles in Home and Away, Heartbreak High and Water Rats in the late 1990s and early 2000s – will be subject to the standard conditions of the order.

Those conditions include being of good behaviour and not being charged with any other offences.

Judge Warwick Hunt ordered Winchester-Stanton would be subject to a further condition of abstaining from prohibited drugs.

Putu Sugiarta Winchester-Stanton faced court on Thursday. Credit: 7NEWS

Despite acknowledging the “prevalence and mischief” of drug supply in the community, and the importance of general deterrence, Judge Hunt said he stopped short of sentencing Winchester-Stanton to a jail term as he has shown remorse and is now living a law-abiding life.

Judge Hunt added the 44-year-old had good prospects for rehabilitation and had accepted responsibility for his actions.

While he had prior convictions that included drink-driving and minor possession charges, it was not a record that served to aggravate his sentence, Judge Hunt added.

Since being charged, Winchester-Stanton has undertaken a 12-month rehabilitation program and is currently employed and has pro-social connections.

“On the balance of probabilities, (he) is truly remorseful and insightful, (in) that he is committed to his rehabilitation and now has excellent prospects for rehabilitation and … he is unlikely to reoffend,” Judge Hunt said.

The former actor was ‘stoked’ to not be sent to prison. Credit: 7NEWS

Winchester-Stanton pleaded guilty to one charge of supplying a prohibited drug, specifically 286g of cocaine, in February 2023.

He was arrested in early April 2021 following an undercover operation targeting drug supply in the Byron Bay area.

Judge Hunt determined the offence was towards the bottom of the mid-range of objective seriousness, but not in the low range as it consisted of “relatively limited planning but some sophistication”.

After being told in September that he wouldn’t spend any time in prison for his crime, the former actor said he was absolutely “stoked”.

He said he would now be “getting on with life” and go “back to the drawing board”.

“I’ve learnt how to redirect my trajectory in life through positive thinking,” he added when asked what the experience had taught him.

His intensive corrections order will expire in May 2025.