The drug crimes of South Australia’s parents revealed
From a dad sending his son to school with meth in his lunch to mums living double lives as drug dealers, here are the SA parents who can’t kick their bad habits.
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From drug driving mums on school runs to heroin addicted dads, Adelaide’s courts have heard a long list of parents and their drug offences over the past few years.
Here are some of the most shocking cases.
Dad left meth in son’s lunch bag
A “low level street dealer” who sent his son to school with the drug ice in his lunch order bag avoided further jail time.
The Adelaide man pleaded guilty in the District Court in 2019 to three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance between August 2017 and August 2018.
On the first and second occasions, police visited the 33-year-old’s house and found various amounts of methamphetamine, cannabis, cash, and phone messages relating to the drug trade.
But on the third occasion, police were called to his nine-year-old son’s school after a “crystalline substance” was found in the child’s lunch order bag.
“A preliminary test returned a positive reading for methamphetamine,” Judge Liesl Chapman said during sentencing.
Police then went to the man’s home, where they found more than 13 grams of ice, $4000 cash and drug paraphernalia throughout the house.
Judge Chapman ruled the total drugs had “considerable potential value” and the man was trafficking to support his own addiction.
She sentenced the man to a non-parole period of two years, five months, taking into account 14 months already spent in jail and four spent on home detention.
The sentence was suspended upon entering a three-year good behaviour bond.
Michelle Dedrick
A Findon mother who drove her son to school while on meth, unregistered and disqualified from driving, has avoided jail time despite a long line of traffic offences.
Michelle Jayde Dedrick, 33, was handed a two-month and 25-day prison sentence and $1400 worth of fines for what Judge Joanne Tracey called “reprehensible driving”.
But she suspended the jail time for the sake of Dedrick’s children and to allow her to get rehabilitation for her drug addiction.
Judge Tracey told the District Court that Dedrick was caught driving with methamphetamine in her system in 2019 while her 13-year-old son and two-year-old daughter were in the car.
Judge Tracey said Dedrick was given a suspended sentence of three years and eight months in August 2018 for four drug trafficking charges on the condition she not take drugs – which she broke when caught last year.
She said Dedrick decided to drive her son to school that day because he was being “uncooperative” and she had regular issues getting him to go to school.
Dedrick was given a two-year good behaviour bond.
Kylie Hie
A South Australian mum who killed her daughter while driving high on ice was dealing the deadly drug while she waited to be sentenced for the crash, a court has heard.
But Kylie Anne Hie, 38, will likely be allowed to serve her latest sentence on home detention, after a judge found she had undergone a “remarkable process of rehabilitation”.
Hie’s four-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was killed when she crashed her van into the back of a truck on the South Eastern Freeway, in Adelaide, in November 2013.
In 2017, she was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to an aggravated count of causing death by dangerous driving.
Adelaide District Court heard that Hie and her then-partner were caught trafficking drugs to an undercover police operative on three occasions in 2016 while she was awaiting sentence for the crash.
She was caught with ice and arrested in the carpark of a pub in Kilburn, north of the CBD, in August of that year, while police found nearly $7000 in cash during a later search of her home.
Hie pleaded guilty to four counts of drug trafficking as well as a dishonesty charge.
In handing down his sentence for the drug charges, Judge Rauf Soulio said she had suffered significant grief and trauma after the crash.
He sentenced her to a non-parole period of two years and six months, but allowed her to wholly serve the term on home detention.
Van Nguyen
A heroin dealer who was addicted to the drug himself was caught by police supplying it to his uncle.
Van Dan Nguyen, 41, was sentenced in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in March and narrowly avoided jail.
The court heard police were doing covert investigations on June 10, 2019.
“They saw a car pulling into your driveway … a man entered your home and then left a short time later,” Chief Magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal said.
“Police conducted a traffic stop of that car and searched it and found a small package of heroin in the man’s wallet.”
Officers then searched Nguyen’s Salisbury home and found a resealable bag containing 4.38g of heroin, 2.2g of which was pure.
The court heard Nguyen was married and had two children.
Ms Hribal sentenced Nguyen to 10 months and 24 days jail, with convictions recorded.
She ordered the sentence be served on home detention.
Jolenne Cleaver
A mother convicted of dealing in amphetamines had her minimum jail term increased sevenfold by the state’s highest court.
Jolenne Alexandria Cleaver was convicted of two counts of trafficking in a controlled drug and possessing a prescription drug at her home on two separate occasions.
When police first went to Cleaver’s home in September 2014 they found tubs and bags containing a substance that included 16g of pure methamphetamine and $17,000 in cash.
Police also found 300 tablets of prescription medication and drug paraphernalia, while Cleaver’s mobile phone revealed messages showing she was involved in dealing.
In November, 2015, District Court judge Rauf Soulio jailed the mother-of-two for three years and six months, but imposed an “unusually low” non-parole period of six months.
The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentence in 2016, arguing it was “manifestly inadequate”.
The Chief Justice found the original six-month minimum sentence period fell well short of standard sentencing for drug trafficking.
Cleaver’s original head sentence was doubled to seven years, with three and a half years non-parole period.
Carly Wren
The mother of a boy who ingested the drug fantasy from an open bottle she momentarily left on a bench washed his mouth out with orange juice before calling for an ambulance.
Carly Jane Wren left the bottle of fantasy – which she used to help her sleep – on the kitchen worktop of her Mt Torrens home in June, last year, as she turned to answer her mobile phone.
As she did so, the boy climbed onto a stool and took some of the drug.
Wren, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal neglect over the incident.
The court heard Wren had been a recreational drug user with a drug problem for many years but was never neglectful of her children prior to the incident.
In December, last year, Wren was sentenced to three months and 19 days in jail.
The sentence was wholly suspended on an 18-month bond, which includes a condition she submit to drug testing as required.
Michelle Perry and Joshua Nicholls
A weed-growing mother and her drug-dealing son faced court after neighbours tipped police off about the marijuana crop growing next door to them.
Michelle Sandra Lesley Perry, 38, led son and dad-to-be, Joshua Nicholls, 20, “down the wrong path” after he was also charged with drug offences, following her illegal crop being uncovered.
A police prosecutor told the Adelaide Magistrates Court that police attended Perry and Nicholl’s address after receiving reports that a marijuana crop was growing on the premises.
“The defendant’s house was searched and police located 10 mature cannabis plants growing throughout the rear yard,” the police prosecutor said.
Police searched Nicholl’s car and found 28g of marijuana.
“A search of his phone showed that there were text messages and Facebook messages consistent with the defendant being involved in the buying and selling of cannabis, along with photos of him posing in front of the cannabis plants,” the police prosecutor said.
Perry pleaded guilty to cultivating more than the prescribed number of cannabis plants.
Nicholls pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and possessing a prohibited weapon.
The court heard Perry, who is a mother-of-six, had cut down her marijuana usage since the incident, while Nicholls was expecting his first child this month.
Halid Hadziefendic
A drug trafficker who became involved in a national syndicate to help his late father’s friend has avoided a lengthy prison term – thanks to the testimony of a drowning woman.
Last month, the District Court jailed Halid Hadziefendic, 48, for five years and three months, with a two-and-a-half year non-parole period.
He made “$100 a pound” as part of a 12-person operation that used Australia Post to send packages of cannabis and cash around the country.
In breaking the syndicate, police seized 16kg of cannabis, 46 plants and $170,000 cash – and alleged Hadziefendic was its kingpin.
He insisted that was not the case, saying he worked under the orders of his father’s friend and would lose his cladding business – leaving his staff unemployed – if jailed.
Judge Rauf Soulio noted Hadziefendic’s willingness to help others, the support he provides his partner, children and mother and his employment of others.
Hadziefendic had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug and one count of unlawful possession.
Hadziefendic will be eligible to seek release on parole in September 2023.
Adam Beck
A desperate drug dealer took extreme measures to collect a drug debt, including tasering a man in the face, while armed with a loaded crossbow.
Adam Leigh Beck, 34, was jailed for over five years in the Adelaide District Court last month after his methamphetamine addiction left him with a mounting drug debt.
The court heard that the victim – who owed Beck money for drugs – was asleep in his car on July 3, 2019 at Kilburn when he woke to someone jumping on the roof and bonnet of his car.
“He (the victim) became aware that the driver’s side window was smashed and he moved across to the passenger’s side, where he became aware of arms reaching through the broken window to try to get him and grab his leg,” Judge Geraldine Davison said during sentencing.
“At this time, he was tasered on the legs a number of times and was unable to move.
“He was then grabbed by the leg and pulled over to the driver’s side, he was then tasered in the face around the right eye.”
The court heard Beck was searched by police on February 16, last year at Ingle Farm where they found methamphetamine and drug dealing messages on his phone.
Beck, of St Agnes, had previously pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including recklessly causing harm and drug trafficking.
“It was in 2015 when you say your life started to go downhill again,” Judge Davison said.
“You say you stopped caring anymore because you had lost your kids, your house and your job.”
Judge Davison sentenced Beck to jail for five years and 11 months, with a non-parole period of 31 months.
The sentence was backdated to January 7.
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