Slain mother-of-two Dayna Isaac’s estranged husband, who has admitted serious drugs and firearm offences, was a small time user-dealer with money troubles, a court has heard.

Mikkel Isaac, 31, has pleaded guilty to commercial drug supply, directing a criminal group, driving while disqualified, dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, supplying a firearm and supplying cannabis.

His wife was killed in her western Sydney unit on January 16. She was in a relationship at the time with another man, Paul Jason Sultana, who has been charged with her murder.

Isaac, arrested in March 2021, made a successful bid for bail following the death of Mrs Isaac, 28, to attend her funeral.

On Friday, a Downing Centre District Court sentence hearing was told Isaac supplied drugs in Sydney across 2020 and involved his family.

Undercover police supplied Isaac with $201,300 worth of drug “buy-money”, the court heard, with the covert involvement of police asserted to attract “a diminished assessment” of his moral culpability.

Police involvement

The undercover officer, or “UCO”, also “triggered” Isaac’s attempt to source a firearm from his cannabis contact, characterised as Isaac “taking up the invitation” from the officer.

Before the officer got involved Isaac was a “very small scale user-dealer”, with police encouraging his offending, the court was told.

On Isaac’s personal circumstances, the court heard he was “pretty destitute” and had a part-time job at Autobarn when he was arrested.

He also tried to sell chainsaws on online site Gumtree, and at one point described himself as “dead broke” with his selling not involving “a huge profit margin”.

At the time Isaac was hard up, he was using so much cocaine that he would have to pay for much of it himself, the court heard.

His criminal record included driving, property and firearms offences but no convictions for drug supply, it was told.

Prosecutor Lisa Graham rejected that Isaac was talked into offending by the undercover police officer, arguing “there was a dialogue” between them.

Undercover intrigue

Authorities viewed using an undercover officer as the best way to prove the level of involvement of Isaac – the target of a police strike force – in the criminal activity, Ms Graham said.

The lawyer conceded “considerable regret” on the part of Isaac whom she described as “engaged in drug dealing in his local area” for financial gain.

“He was the white part of the onion with a lot of people,” she said.

In the related matter of his father Laith Isaac, 57, who has pleaded guilty to offences of participating in a criminal group and drug supply, the court heard an intensive correction order was possible.

His barrister Wali Shukoor told the court his client had no other “real negative” interactions with the criminal justice system and had been under strict bail conditions.

Mr Shukoor said Isaac acted as a “drone” in the criminal enterprise before going on a “frolic” of his own, but had to ask about the market price of cocaine showing his limited sophistication in drug supply.

“The Crown does not want to be heard against an intensive corrections order,”Ms Graham told the court.

Both matters were adjourned to August 11 for sentence.

-AAP