NAMED: 12 shocking Gympie drug offenders busted in 2020
Out of all the Gympie locals who faced drug charges in 2020, these grabbed the headlines
Police & Courts
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The Gympie courts have seen their fair share of drug-related crimes this year.
From two men being busted with $40k worth of drugs, to a father being found with 92 weed plants, here are some of the most shocking offenders of 2020.
1. Amphetamine 'havoc' sends Gympie man back to jail
Queensland's ice epidemic was the focus of the jail sentence imposed on a young Gympie man in Gympie District Court in February.
Judge Glen Cash said the proliferation of drug rehabilitation service in regional towns was "a reflection of ice spreading through country communities", as he sentenced 22-year-old Gympie man Michael Carswell Coyne.
Coyne pleaded guilty to seven charges of supplying dangerous drugs between July 22, 2018 and April 22 2019, with sale discussions found in messages on a mobile phone.
2. Parents of 5 busted growing greenhouse of pot
A Victory Heights couple who share five children together were busted growing marijuana plants in a backyard greenhouse.
Alexander Karl Kroenert, 30, a volunteer junior soccer coach and his partner Stacey-Anne Louise Sutton, 29, were caught with several metre-high plants they produced to fund their own habit "because it worked out cheaper" than buying.
When police searched their home on January 23 this year, they uncovered a 48 gram bag of marijuana in their bedside drawer alongside a coffee grinder and digital scales and a bag of marijuana seeds.
The couple both pleaded guilty to three charges each, one each of producing and possessing drugs and one charge of possessing drug utensils.
Magistrate Chris Callaghan recorded no conviction for Kroenert.
3. 'Shake and bake': $40k ice bust at Mothar Mt
Two Gympie men faced court after police found up to $40,000 worth of drugs and a "shake and bake" recipe for making ice at a rural property.
Ashley David Percy Will Leis, 29, and Christopher William Slough, 31, faced Brisbane Supreme Court in March, where they both pleaded guilty to a range of charges including drug possession and Slough pleaded guilty to supply charges.
The court was told that on March 20 last year, police executed a warrant at Leis's Mothar Mountain property where they found both men drug affected and up to $40,000 worth of drugs, including 71g of ice and 21g of cannabis.
4. Toddlers' teenage babysitter 'paid in ice'
A reckless man gave his 15-year-old niece ice before leaving her to babysit his two very young children, a court has been told.
The 32-year-old former Gympie man, who cannot be named, faced Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to supplying his young niece and her 18-year-old friend with ice.
The court was told that the man offered to give his niece a small amount of money in exchange for babysitting his kids but the teenage girl asked for a small amount of ice instead.
5. 19yo meth addict racked up 40 charges in 6-month crime spree
A 19-year-old who was in the "midst of a drug addiction" when she went on a crime spree cried as she faced the Gympie District Court on 40 charges in July.
Chantslea Sue Curran was charged with two indictable offences, one count of supplying meth and one count of possessing a firearm, as well as 38 summary offences which included attempted fraud, ammunition possession, several driving offences, theft and more.
On January 19, 2020, at Victory Heights she was charged with supplying a dangerous drug, when it was revealed that Curran gave meth to the driver in exchange for a lift to Jones Hill.
Curran pleaded guilty to 40 charges in total.
6. Man who rode stolen horse into pub in court for dealing
A Gympie man who previously rode a stolen horse into Gympie's Jockey Club Hotel and punched a stranger in the face, found himself back before the courts, this time on several charges of supplying meth.
On January 31 last year, police with a search warrant for another man, raided a house in Gympie where they found Matthew Lawrence Grimstone, 25, and discovered he had been supplying the wanted man with meth.
Grimstone's phone was seized by police to be analysed, and messages revealed details of previous drug deals.
Grimstone had sold the man 0.5g of meth or a substance containing meth for $100 in early January, later that month, he sold him the same quantity again for $100, and towards the end of January he sold another person 0.2g for an unknown price.
Grimstone faced the Gympie District Court and pleaded guilty to three charges of supplying drugs schedule one.
7. Gympie dad busted with cocaine, ecstasy in nightclub
A young Gympie dad busted with $300 of cocaine and ecstasy at a popular nightclub in Maroochydore was on parole for assault at the time, a Gympie court heard in September.
At 1am on March 21, security guards from The Post Office Bar on Ocean Street detained Aiden Kalem Dyett Dolling, 24, and approached police who were patrolling the safe night precinct.
The guards gave police Dyett Dolling's licence and two clip seal bags they had found on him, one containing cocaine and one with a broken orange pill, which Dyett Dolling said was ecstasy.
Dyett Dolling pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing cocaine and unlawfully possessing ecstasy.
8. Ex-sawmill worker found with 92 plants in Gympie police raid
A father of two has avoided actual time behind bars after being caught with a "sophisticated" three-room set-up, which allowed him to grow more than 14kg of marijuana.
Ninety-two plants ranging from 10cm to 1.5m tall were found on the property of The Palms' James Justin Wickmann when police raided it in March.
Police also found the ex-sawmill worker in possession of a box of oxycodone tablets he did not have a prescription for, and multiple weapons including a crossbow, knuckle dusters, a throwing knife and a long-barrelled rifle.
Wickmann pleaded guilty to eight charges in total, including producing a dangerous drug in excess of 500g, two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, and possessing property used in association with drugs.
9. Drug supplier jailed, warned 'you will see an early grave'
A young Gympie father could be out on parole for Christmas after pleading guilty in Gympie District Court yesterday to multiple offences stemming from a destructive drug addiction.
Michael Ethan Dan, 27, has been in jail on remand since police searched his home and his father's home on January 31, this year, and found dangerous drugs, evidence he was producing and supplying dangerous drugs, and explosives.
He also pleaded guilty in November to three counts of break and enter and stealing, involving $30,000 in stolen property from late last year.
10. Drug dealer Gympie mum busted selling meth and weed
A middle-aged Gympie mother has been told she has "a longstanding problem with drug abuse" after being caught dealing meth and weed a number of times between 2020 and 2019.
Leanne Margaret MacGregor, 44, was detected selling or attempting to sell various quantities of the two drugs on five occasions as police investigated someone else suspected of drug dealing, the Gympie District Court heard in November.
One of MacGregor's deals involved 7g of cannabis and 1.7g meth provided to the man for $430, another involved 2g of meth amounting to $320 and another totalling 1.75g of meth.
Judge Glen Cash acknowledged MacGregor's timely guilty pleas to five charges of supplying or offering to supply a dangerous drug, one charge of possessing a bong and one charge of possessing a small quantity of dangerous drugs, but noted she was of "mature" age with a criminal history dating back "a fair way".
11. Yowie prepper's partner had 33 'pot' plants growing in car
A dad who had been smoking marijuana moments before police searched his Cooloola Cove property tried to pass dozens of marijuana plants off as tomatoes, before coming clean.
On September 9, police found more than 30 marijuana plants and a number of homemade bongs while searching Adrian Hapaera Namana's property in relation to another matter.
Inside Namana's house, where lives with his partner and their 19-year-old son, police found one gram of marijuana leaf in a clip seal bag, another gram in two bowls, multiple homemade bongs and a set of scales.
Outside, police searched Namana's unregistered car and discovered 33 marijuana seedlings of various heights growing in trays.
Namana pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court to producing marijuana, unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of scales and bongs.
12. Mum busted driving illegally, with meth-loaded needle in bag
A Gympie woman caught driving on a suspended licence and with a meth-loaded needle in her handbag said she had "mixed with the wrong crowd".
On January 9, police pulled over Aleesha Skye Riches, 31, while she was driving in Gympie, and after talking with her became suspicious and searched the car.
Police found a hypodermic needle loaded with liquid meth, a clip seal bag containing meth, and scoop straw, and another needle containing an unknown red substance in Riches' handbag.
The police also discovered Riches was driving illegally, as her licence had been suspended by SPER at the time.
Riches pleaded guilty to charges including unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of a hypodermic needle used to administer a dangerous drug, a straw scoop used in connection with smoking a dangerous drug, and driving while on a suspended licence.
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