Mixing with wrong crowd leads to jail

MIXING with the wrong crowd led a young mother of previously no criminal history into drug use and ultimately a stint in jail.

Sarah Jane Fishburn was 32 with no criminal history when in 2015 she was first convicted of a drug offence after being introduced to cannabis by a partner, her solicitor Nathan Bouchier told Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

Then in 2017 after she entered into another relationship with a known drug user, she started using heavier drugs more regularly, he said.

“That’s when things really spiralled out of control for her,” Mr Bouchier said.

Having been given a period of parole for drug use, police raided her Kingsthorpe home on April 19, last year,

During the search police found clip seal plastic bags in which was 4.87g of crystal meth, a range of drug utensils, a number of prescription drugs and property that had been reported stolen including gold jewellery, four rings with diamonds removed, two laptop computers, a Samsung tablet and an iPhone, all of which she admitted to having received.

Police prosecutor Leea Trewin told the court Toowoomba detectives had searched a Cabarlah home at which Fishburn was staying on August 18, last year.

Police found a bag secreted under the mattress in her bedroom which was found to have clip seal bags which contained 4.6g of cannabis, 37 tablets of the prescription drug diazepam, a total 7.9g of crystal meth and drug utensils, Senior Constable Trewin said.

After that raid, Fishburn had been remanded in custody and spent the ensuing four months in jail before obtaining bail in mid-December, the court heard.

Fishburn, 37, pleaded guilty to possessing methylamphetamine above the 2g schedule but because the police did not allege any commerciality the matter was able to be dealt with in the Magistrates Court instead of the Supreme Court.

She also pleaded guilty to receiving tainted property and possessing drug utensils.

Mr Bouchier said his client was on parole for the first lot of offences but no action was taken on her parole at the time.

During her time in custody, she had completed a Recovery From Substance Abuse program and since being released on bail had not committed any further offences, he said.

His client intended moving to the coast and away from associates in Toowoomba, Mr Bouchier said.

Magistrate Kay Ryan said the amount of meth found was significant and it appeared the drug was of high purity.

On the Kingsthorpe offences, Fishburn was sentenced to 12 months in jail, the term fully suspended for two years.

On the Cabarlah matters, Ms Ryan sentenced Fishburn to 18 months in jail but, declaring the 120 days pre-sentence custody as time already served, ordered she be released on parole forthwith.

peter.hardwick@thechronicle.com.au