Kahla Jai Thatcher in court for weapon possession

A former beauty salon owner and mum-of-four has been found unconscious on a busy Brisbane motorway with multiple drugs in her system and a loaded rifle and blade in her car.

Kahla Jai Thatcher was sentenced in Hervey Bay Magistrate Court on March 12, 2024.

A former beauty salon owner found unconscious behind the wheel on a busy Brisbane highway with six different drugs in her system and with a loaded rifle in her vehicle has been sentenced in court.

Kahla Jai Thatcher, 31, pleaded guilty in the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Tuesday to 14 charges.

These were three counts of driving while the under influence of liquor or drug, driving while suspended, weapon possession, possession of ammunition, five counts of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of a utensil, the breaking of bail conditions and the unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

On August 19 last year, at 1.36am, police were called to the Gateway Mwy in Rochedale after reports of a white Skoda “driving all over the road and having crashed into the central barrier” police prosecutor Louesa McConnell told the court.

The court was told police found Thatcher “slumped” over the wheel and unconscious after driving from Kirra in the Gold Coast.

A licence check showed it was suspended and she was wanted on a warrant, Ms McConnell said.

When removed from the vehicle, officers noted she was “uneasy” on her feet, the police prosecutor told the court.

Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded sawn-off .22 bolt-action rifle in a bag along with a curved blade, 1.42g of methamphetamine and nine cocaine tablets.

The court heard an initial breath test came back negative for alcohol for Thatcher and a drug test conducted at a nearby hospital came back positive for six drugs including amphetamines, methamphetamines and diazepam.

The court was told despite this incident and still not allowed to drive, she was again found behind the wheel on September 18 last year in Hervey Bay at a car wash.

This time when a search was conducted of her vehicle, officers found 1.32 litres of gamma-Butyrolactone, 20g of liquid fantasy and 2g of meth in two separate clip-seal bags.

The court heard this incident occurred at a time when she should have been reporting for bail more than 1454km away in Cairns.

Her lawyer Virginia Ukpabi told the court Thatcher was a former beauty salon owner in her hometown of Cairns.

The effects of an abusive relationship in the city had led the mother of four children down a spiral of abusive drug use, Ms Ukpabi said.

She told the court, upon her client’s release, mental health charity Lives Lived Well was prepared to assist her.

Magistrate Trinity McGarvie sentenced Thatcher to two years’ imprisonment with a parole release date of May 19.

More than 170 days of pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.

Convictions were recorded.

Before the video link was switched off Thatcher apologised to the court and told Ms McGarvie she was “embarrassed” by the situation.

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