Judge’s pity for mum

A FORMER bank manager unwittingly caught up in a Cairns drug syndicate’s activities has faced so much public scrutiny a Cairns judge made the rare move to not record a conviction for money laundering because her job prospects were now so dire.

Hanna Glatthor, 24, yesterday avoided jail time and was given 18 months probation after pleading guilty to laundering cash over 10 months in 2017.

Her fiance Ethan Hill remains charged with drug trafficking and has not entered a plea, while his brother Ryan Hill was the king pin of the syndicate and is due to be sentenced in April.

Glatthor (above), who is seven months pregnant with her second child and has no criminal history, was charged with trafficking as part of the syndicate when the police operation closed in January 2018, but this was later downgraded to money laundering.

Defence barrister Martin Longhurst said there had been “hysteria” around the case, handing up five newspaper articles in court, and his client had lost two jobs and failed to be re-employed since being charged.

The court heard her offending related to being handed bags of cash on four occasions by syndicate member Kieren Wilson at her front door, which she then kept for Ryan Hill to collect.

The court was also played three phone calls between the pair, including one where he asked her to transfer the redraw amount on a loan into his personal account.

Crown prosecutor Sheridan Shaw said Glatthor should have been aware the excess funds were likely proceeds of crime, which Justice Jim Henry later rejected.

Mr Longhurst said Glatthor had asked her fiance about the bags of cash and he told her to “mind her own business” and it remained a source of conflict in their relationship. He described Ryan Hill as being “a cancer of a brother-in-law” who stayed with the couple on occasion and got her caught up in his illicit dealings.

Justice Henry described the extent of her involvement as “the dupe who happened to be home” when Wilson turned up with the cash, which amounted to at least $219,000.

“(It was due to) the direct product of family loyalty that you did what you did. And I accept you were unhappy doing it,” he said.

He told the court she would face ongoing employment issues due to the online media stories.

“In this day and age most prospective employers will Google applicants,” he said.

Ethan Hill’s case is due before court in late March.