Rhonda Adele Thorp and Stephen Craig Allen arrested for alleged meth trafficking at Mount Gambier International Motel

Two guests allegedly caught with a meth stash in a Mount Gambier motel room have faced court on drug trafficking charges.

A grandmother and a man have faced court co-accused of drug trafficking charges after police allegedly discovered a meth stash in a Suttontown motel room.

Rhonda Adele Thorp and Stephen Craig Allen appeared at the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Monday charged with two counts of trafficking a controlled drug.

Mount Gambier International Hotel at Suttontown. Picture: Jessica Ball

A police search conducted under the Firearms Act led to the discovery of a small amount of cannabis and a key to room six at Mount Gambier International Motel on the outskirts of the city at 11.15pm on September 27, 2020, the court heard.

The prosecutor said both defendants were present when police searched the room at 4.50am the next morning, also under the Firearms Act.

“Police located a bicycle repair kit on the bed,” they said.

“There was a small resealable plastic bag containing a crystallised substance.

“At the time both were placed under arrest for trafficking.”

When police say the drugs were found, the search was paused with Superintendent Phil Hoff arriving at 5.20am to enact a general search warrant with the final haul including two bags containing a total of 12g of suspected methamphetamine, a red backpack full of numerous forms of identification and two seized phones.

The Mount Gambier Courthouse. Picture: Tait Schmaal

The prosecutor said a charge determination was not yet made as they were awaiting forensic analysis of the weight of the drugs.

Thorp’s defence lawyer Dylan Walsh argued for the charges to be dismissed and said he did not concede there was a case to answer.

With other drug matters before the court, Mr Walsh said the grandmother was initially refused bail, spending months in custody before being released on home detention December.

He said the delay was unfair and police had acted beyond the powers of the Firearms Act during the search.

“Prosecution has had sufficient time for these peripheral matters to be finalised,” Mr Walsh said.

Magistrate Maria Panagiotidis said she understood Mr Walsh’s argument but did not dismiss the charges.

She ordered a home detention compliance report and remanded both Thorp and Allen, who is on simple bail, to reappear in April.