Kiera Lee Scott jailed for four years for selling methamphetamine to address mounting debts

A former award-winning travel agent has been jailed after her personal life “rapidly went downhill” and she started selling meth to feed her addiction.

A former award-winning travel agent has been jailed for more than four years for trafficking methamphetamine in a “desperate” bid to solve her mounting debt issues, a court has heard.

Kiera Lee Scott, 30, pleaded guilty in the District Court of South Australia to trafficking.

The court heard earlier this month Scott, of Paralowie, was first introduced to drugs when she was 15.

But by the beginning of 2018, her wages did not cover the cost of her drug use and she started to supply methamphetamine to a few friends.

“In April 2018, you formed a relationship with a man who was a heavy user and your life rapidly went downhill,” Judge Joanne Tracey said.

“You discovered that his stories to you were all a fabrication.”

The court heard over a six-month period she went from a “high performing person with a stellar career” to unemployed.

Then, Scott rolled her car on the Barrier Highway on February 15, 2019.

After emergency services were called, her “behaviour and the presence of ice pipes in the vehicle” led to a police search which discovered 135 grams of crystal in her handbag, of which 90.7 grams was methamphetamine,

“During your interview you told police that you had the methamphetamine because you were trying to get yourself out of trouble,” Judge Tracey said.

“You referenced some financial difficulties you had been experiencing.

“You described picking up the drugs from an agreed location earlier that day.

“I accept you may have had significant drug debts and were perhaps desperate to get ahead.

“Having said that, your offending is consistent with what was an ongoing involvement in significant drug trafficking at a level well above that of street level dealer.

Kiera Lee Scott was sentenced in the District Court of South Australia to four years and six months jail. Picture: NCA/Dean Martin

“Clearly you were acting for a financial benefit.”

Police also found numerous messages on her phone which indicated she had been involved in the sale of drugs from November, 2018 and “beyond that of a street level dealer selling to support their own habit”.

“You say you agreed to act as a courier, you had large drug debts and had been evicted from your house,” she said.

“Your involvement cannot simply be characterised as a courier, clearly you had more detailed knowledge than someone simply acting in that role.

“Your reference in the text messages after the drugs were found by police to having been found with ‘five big ones’ shows that.

“Indeed, you have admitted that while you would have used some of the drugs, you would also have trafficked some yourself.”

She was arrested in February 2019 and then pleaded guilty in October the following year.

Scott, who was born in Broken Hill and came from a “close-knit family with a happy childhood”, had her employment at a travel company terminated due to her addiction.

“You fell into a dark depression and were the victim of ongoing mental and physical domestic violence and that you lost all motivation to find another job,” she said.

“Your drug use increased and you were evicted from your townhouse five days before this offence.

“You say that you agreed to act as you did because of your drug debts and desperation.”

The drugs were only 10 grams short of being a commercial quantity and could have fetched up to $67,000.

She was sentenced to four years and six months jail with a non-parole period of 28 months.