Zara’d Beattie in court for supplying drugs

A Hervey Bay woman due to give birth has been told she could easily have gone to jail and had her third child behind bars. Read what was said in court:

A pregnant mother has faced Hervey Bay District Court for supplying more than $1300 of cannabis.

Zara’d Beattie, 26, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to six counts of supplying dangerous drugs, two charges of possessing dangerous drugs, possessing something used in the commission of a crime defined in part 2 and possessing utensils or pipes for use.

The court heard Beattie was 24 when she committed the offences.

Prosecutor Kate Droney told the court Beattie’s offending came to light when her phone number was identified during an investigation.

Ms Droney said when Beattie’s address was searched by police in October 2020, her mobile phone was seized and analysed, which revealed she had supplied dangerous drugs on a number of occasions.

The court heard all supplies were cannabis, which ranged in weights from one gram for $20, up to 56 grams for $660.

Ms Droney said Beattie supplied cannabis to five separate people during a three month period.

When police searched her address, they also found other “drug related paraphernalia”, Ms Droney said.

The court heard Beattie was arrested in November 2020 and granted bail in February 2021.

Ms Droney described the supplies as “commercially motivated” and highlighted an “escalation” in Beattie’s criminal history, which contained previous drug offences.

The court heard Beattie had an ongoing addiction to cannabis and some of the offences were committed while she was on probation.

Defence barrister Sarah Farnden said the “most important thing” her client did for her rehabilitation was relocating to Hervey Bay from Rockhampton in November 2021.

Ms Farnden told the court Beattie moved to Hervey Bay after ending a relationship with her former partner.

The court heard Beattie was recently engaged to a new partner, had two daughters and was pregnant with a third child.

Beattie was going to give birth to her third child this week, it also heard.

Ms Farnden said Beattie was “focused” on giving her children a “better life”, and had not used cannabis since falling pregnant.

At the time of her offending, she was experiencing depression and anxiety, and was “self medicating”, Ms Farnden said.

Judge Vicki Loury QC told the court the supplies totalled $1340 and emphasised the seriousness of Beattie’s offending.

“Ms Beattie you’re a mother, what are your daughters going to do if you’re in jail?” Judge Loury said.

“I could quite easily send you to jail today and your daughters would be left without their mother for a period of time, and you would be having a child in custody.

“That is the consequence of your decisions to supply drugs into the community.”

Beattie was sentenced to nine months jail, wholly suspended for two years for the six counts of supplying dangerous drugs.

For the two charges of possessing dangerous drugs, she was sentenced to three months jail, wholly suspended for two years.

Beattie was convicted and not further punished for possessing anything used in the commission of crime defined in part 2, and possessing utensils or pipes for use.

Judge Loury ordered all terms of imprisonment be served concurrently.