A brother of former NSW police minister and deputy premier Paul Toole spiralled into drug addiction following a "violent" upbringing among their family of nine siblings, a court has been told.
Joshua Toole, 40, was sentenced to six years' jail on Wednesday, after pleading guilty to one count of supplying a large commercial quantity of the drug ice.
He will be eligible for parole on December 20, 2026 after a period of three years and six months, backdated to June 2023.
After the sentence was delivered in the District Court at Newcastle, Toole hugged family members and supporters at the back of the courtroom before being taken into custody.
The court heard Toole could be placed back into a protection unit, in part due to the publicity surrounding the case, as well as false allegations he assisted police.
Toole spent several months in isolation, consisting of 23 hours a day alone in his cell, while on remand following his arrest in 2022 before being released on bail.
Defence barrister Phillip Boulten SC described the situation as “classic solitary confinement”.
“He will go back to those conditions," Mr Boulten said.
Sentencing Judge Roy Ellis said it isn't certain what will happen to Toole during his incarceration, which will be up to prison officials.
"The department might take what they consider to be the safe course by putting him in a high-protection unit," Judge Ellis said.
“Whether that’s because of the rumours about assisting police or ... by having a brother who’s the (former) police minister.”
Another brother, Kurt Toole, is also serving time in jail and is not the subject of specific protection, the court heard.
Toole's sister, Carmel Vogelsang, said as the "baby" in the family, youngest sibling Joshua was often the target of violence from his older brothers.
"Obviously with so many different personalities and different age groups there was fighting," she said.
"Sometimes there was more violence than you would expect.”
There is no suggestion violence came from Paul Toole or from the parents who Ms Vogelsang described as "absolutely beautiful".
Mr Toole was the NSW deputy premier and police minister at the time of his brother’s arrest and is now the shadow police minister after the coalition lost the state election in March.
Joshua Toole is no stranger to the prison system, serving nine years of a 14-year sentence for offences relating to the supply of ice and cannabis, handed down in 2010.
After being released in 2019, Toole was again arrested in October 2022 while still on probation following a police sting in which he was contacted by an undercover officer requesting to buy five ounces of ice.
Prosecutors said Toole was a "facilitator" in the deal and used the encrypted app Threema with the handle "Smiley" to run a criminal syndicate supplying drugs across NSW's Hunter region and Central Coast.
Paul Colvin, 42, who Toole put in contact with the officer to supply the drugs, was also sentenced on Wednesday receiving an aggregate term of three years and six months.
After the sting, officers seized two kilograms of methylamphetamine with a street value of about $2 million, as well as $220,000 in cash, during a series of raids at Belmont North, Nords Wharf and Wadalba.
Ms Vogelsang said Joshua is a different person since getting off drugs and upon his release will have the full support of his family.
“There’s nine of us and we’ll be there for him all the way," she said.
