Revealed: Gladstone’s biggest drug stories of 2021

The Observer counts down the top 10 most read drug cases through Gladstone Magistrates and District Courts this year.

Over the past year there have been 1292 drug related offences recorded by the Queensland Police Service in the Gladstone region.

This includes more than 1,100 alone directly in Gladstone and surrounds, with offences from drug possession to drug driving and several more prominent.

Here are the top 10 most read drug cases The Observer reported on in 2021:

10. Man’s drug operation torn down by police

Richard Henry Jessen

A man’s suburban marijuana growing operation, which included an insulated grow room, was shut down by Gladstone police who uncovered a swath of drugs at his home.

Richard Henry Jessen, 42, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court on December 10 to five drug charges including producing dangerous drugs.

Magistrate Bevan Manthey convicted and sentenced Jessen to 12 months probation with a no drug use condition. Convictions were recorded.

Read more here: Man’s drug operation torn down in police raid

9. ‘Got it for $1000’: Drug offender’s cocky claim

A Gladstone man admitted to police he purchased his weed for cheaper than its street value, a court heard.

Dat Cheung, 18, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court on April 20 to possessing dangerous drugs, possessing utensils or pipes, and possessing property suspected used in connection with a drug offence.

Acting Magistrate Ron Muirhead fined Cheung $2000 and no conviction was recorded.

Read more here: ‘Got it for $1000’: Drug offender’s cocky claim

8. Gladstone mum runs drug dealing business from home

Sharmaine Rose Cotter

A Gladstone mother dealt marijuana from the comfort of her Glen Eden home for four months, until the police came knocking on her door.

Sharmaine Rose Cotter pleaded guilty in Gladstone District Court on November 23 to three drug offence.

Judge Catherine Muir convicted and sentenced Cotter to two years imprisonment, wholly suspended for three years.

Read more here: Sharmaine Rose Cotter pleaded guilty to three drug offence in Gladstone District Court

7. Central Queensland miner punches cop while high on methamphetamine

A Central Queensland miner turned to meth and ended up punching a police officer in the face while high, after his marriage broke down, a court heard.

Nathan Wade Smith, 31, pleaded guilty in Gladstone District Court on November 22 to six charges including supplying schedule one dangerous drugs.

Smith was convicted and sentenced to seven months imprisonment, however, immediately released on parole due to 167 days of pre-sentence custody served. Convictions were recorded.

Read more here: Nathan Wade Smith, 31, pleaded guilty to six charges in Gladstone District Court on Monday

6. Nunchucks and meth: Woman’s crazy car contents exposed

Kelly Louise Peirce

A woman who was intercepted by police after being seen outside a known drug dealer’s house landed herself in hot water after they searched her car, a court heard.

Kelly Louise Peirce, 35, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court on November 8 to 19 charges including possessing dangerous drugs and obstruct police officer.

Magistrate Bevan Manthey convicted and sentenced Peirce to nine months imprisonment with an immediate parole release date given she had served 29 days pre-sentence custody. Convictions were recorded.

Read more: Nunchucks and meth: Woman’s crazy car contents exposed

5. ‘Afforded every opportunity’: Repeat drug offender jailed

Cole Matthew Duggan

“He has been afforded every opportunity by the court and every sentencing option has been explored.”

That is what Magistrate Bevan Manthey told 37-year-old Cole Matthew Duggan when sentencing him in Gladstone Magistrates Court on October 1.

Duggan pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs, possessing utensils or pipes that had been used, and possessing property suspected of having been used in connection with the commissioning of a drug offence.

Magistrate Bevan Manthey sentenced Duggan to a head sentence of nine months’ imprisonment, with a parole release date of October 31. Convictions were recorded.

Read more here: ‘Afforded every opportunity’: Repeat drug offender jailed

4. Man with $250K drug debt claims he’s Gladstone’s ‘second biggest dealer’

A man who boasted that he was Gladstone’s “second biggest drug dealer” was sentenced a second time for drug trafficking.

Anthony John Robert Featherstone, 45, pleaded guilty at a contested sentence in the Supreme Court at Rockhampton on August 23 to numerous offences, the most serious being trafficking dangerous drugs.

Justice Graeme Crow ordered the two years and nine months left to run on Featherstone’s suspended sentence be activated, and be served on top of the imminent sentence.

For these offences, Featherstone was sentenced to seven years’ jail.

Justice Crow set a parole eligibility date of January 22, 2023, declaring 585 days’ pre-sentence custody as time served.

Read more:Man with $250K drug debt claims he’s Gladstone’s ‘second biggest dealer’

3. ‘Persistent offender’: UGL trainee jailed after police raid home

Chloe Renee Owbridge

A Gladstone woman’s luck ran out on December 3 when she was jailed for ‘persistent’ drug offending.

Chloe Renee Owbridge, 21, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to four charges including two counts of possessing dangerous drugs.

Owbridge was convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 12 months after serving two weeks in jail. Convictions were recorded.

Read more here: ‘Persistent offender’: UGL trainee jailed after police raid home

2. Repeat offender found with drugs, axe in McDonalds carpark

Robert Christian Duca.

A man with a criminal history which included “just about every charge imaginable” was back before a magistrate on Friday.

Robert Christian Duca, 42, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to possessing dangerous drugs and possession of a knife in a public place.

Acting Magistrate Ron Muirhead convicted and fined Duca $500 and recorded a conviction.

Read more: Repeat offender found with drugs, axe in McDonalds carpark

1. Woman wept after District Court sentence for drug offences

A Gladstone woman did not follow through with claims she could supply a user with a “ball” of methamphetamine, a court has heard.

Sarah Louise Barber, 28, pleaded guilty in Gladstone District Court on March 9 to supplying drugs.

Barber was sentenced to 15 months‘ probation and a conviction was recorded.

Read more here: Gladstone woman wept after drug supply sentencing