Mackay and Whitsunday parents faced court for dealing drugs
From pushing 8g of methylamphetamine to growing more than 800 marijuana plants, some of Mackay’s parents turned to selling drugs and faced court. Read the list here.
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From pushing 8g of methylamphetamine to growing more than 800 marijuana plants, some of Mackay’s parents turned to selling drugs and faced court.
Here is the full list of Mackay’s drug-dealing parents.
Caitlyn Leigh Garven
A judge reprimanded a Mackay mother for loving drugs more than her toddler as her commercial operation was laid out in court.
Tears rolled down Caitlyn Leigh Garven’s cheeks as she faced Mackay Supreme Court from the dock in July 2021 while her two-year-old daughter was minded next door.
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso said police carried out a search warrant on the Beaconsfield home Garven, 28, shared with her then partner and father of her child on February 13 this year.
The court heard police found a red and black case inside a washing basket in their bedroom containing tick sheets detailing Garven selling 0.175g lots of methylamphetamine for $400 each.
Next to the basket was a multi-coloured pencil case with three clip-seal bags collectively containing 8.21g of methylamphetamine, electronic scales and a glass pipe.
Ms Kelso said police also found a wallet with almost $2000 cash, a clip seal bag with less than 1g of marijuana and two drivers licences that did not belong to her.
Garven pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug in excess of 2g, a dangerous drug, utensils and tainted property.
She was sentenced to two years jail with immediate parole and convictions were recorded.
Melissa Jane McLean
The Bowen mother was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to trafficking and possessing drugs, with McLean “peddling over 50 grams” of methamphetamine a week.
McLean was pregnant when she trafficked ice – allegedly for the father of her then unborn child, who was the principal mark in a police operation targeting methamphetamines in the Whitsundays.
Police first busted McLean possessing ice at Cannonvale on November 20, 2018 – rather than learning her lesson she then went on to traffic methylamphetamines between December 1, 2018 and January 16, 2019 at Bowen.
She was further charged with aggravated ice possession and possessing cash from drug sales at Sarina on December 2 last year.
The court heard she had about 10 customers, but also allegedly pushed drugs for the father of her child, and was considered between a street level and wholesale dealer.
Her initial jail term of five years was set aside, with a successful appeal reducing the sentence to four years jail to be suspended after serving 12 months.
Supreme Court Justice Walter Sofronoff determined the penalty was “too high” and there was “an inadequate amelioration” for her personal circumstances at the time.
Convictions were recorded.
Stephen Frederick Brandenberg
The Mackay father pleaded guilty to four charges including trafficking and aggravated drug possession, and was jailed for three-and-a-half years, to be suspended after five months.
The 61 year old was caught up in a police sting targeting trafficking in Central Queensland.
On March 26, 2020 when two men spoke on the phone about Stephen Frederick Brandenburg selling them four pounds (1.81kg) of marijuana, detectives were listening.
Mackay District Court heard police suspected Brandenburg would travel from Mackay out west to drop off the goods.
So the following day, at 6am, officers parked on the side of the road between Moranbah and Clermont – 13 minutes later, Brandenburg drove past.
Police searched Brandenburg’s car and seized 3.287kg of marijuana, $5500 in cash and a number of empty clip seal bags.
The court heard Brandenburg told police, “two pounds were intended for a customer in Clermont, and the rest, five pounds and six ounces, were to be supplied to a new customer in Emerald”.
He admitted to trafficking marijuana between October 2019 and March 2020.
Brandenburg turned to trafficking marijuana when his business began failing, with medical bills piling up.
Defence barrister Scott McLennan said his client “thought stupidly” he could sell drugs to alleviate the pressure and was genuinely remorseful for his conduct.
Then aged 59 and 60, he bought the drugs for about $3000-$3500 per pound (453g) and onsold for $3500-$4000, offering “a $500 discount for those who could pay in cash”, and delivered the product in person sometimes making a 1000km round trip.
The 61 year old had been working in the mines when he seriously hurt his back in 2005, and was forced to leave the job in 2009 because of the injury.
Convictions were recorded.
Chloe-June Christine Wilson
A self-represented mother of three was jailed for four years after her role in an ice trafficking venture was revealed to police.
Wilson was caught trafficking methamphetamines for 49 days in the Mackay region after she obtained wholesale quantities of the drugs and sold them in personal-use amounts.
Mackay Supreme Court heard Wilson struggled with a dysfunctional family life, domestic violence, mental and physical health issues and drug addiction.
In the span of 24 hours, police caught Wilson with methamphetamines twice.
Wilson appealed the length of the sentence, and argued it should have been three years suspended after serving nine months for trafficking and aggravated possession of ice.
Justice Elizabeth Wilson said Wilson had not demonstrated a misapplication of principle by Justice Graeme Crow or the punishment was unjust, so the appeal was denied.
Convictions were recorded.
Brooke Suzannah Greive
The 31-year-old mother wiped away her tears as she was sentenced for a four-month drug trafficking venture.
Appearing via video-link at Mackay Supreme Court this week, Grieve pleaded guilty to unlawful drug trafficking from March 9, 2019 to July 15, 2019.
Police officers obtained a search warrant for Greive’s Mackay home on July 14, 2019, and once inside found notebooks containing records, described as tick sheets, detailing sales of drugs to customers on credit.
Police also found two mobile phones, 48.887g of substance (34.803g of which was methylamphetamine), and $2004 in cash.
At the time of the warrant, Greive was 15 months into a two-year operational period.
On June 8, 2020, she was sentenced to a total of 4.6 years imprisonment (with 324 days already served) for unlawful drug trafficking, the unlawful possession of methylamphetamine (a quantity exceeding 2g), contravening an order to reveal information on her mobile, and possessing money suspected to be the profits of her drug enterprise.
James William Corrigan
A man must now live his whole life completely blind in one eye after a Mackay drug dealer reached into his car and punched him so hard in the face that it ruptured his eyeball.
After the victim drove himself to hospital to get some help, perpetrator James William Corrigan sent nasty messages to him such as, “f--- your eye c — t, you got off lightly with that”.
Almost half a year later, the father of two was busted during the major Operation Romeo Suitcase sting in Mackay, where he was caught with a large amount of pure meth, just shy of 24g.
Corrigan pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Supreme Court on August 3 this year to 11 offences including grievous bodily harm, possessing over 2g of methylamphetamine, drug supply, and enter premises with intent, among others.
He was sentenced to cumulative periods of 3.5 years imprisonment for the GBH and 2.5 years for possessing meth, totalling six years.
He was ordered to forfeit the drugs and was convicted and not further punished on all other offences, with Justice Graeme Crow ruling Corrigan’s spent time in custody was enough.
Convictions were recorded.
Street-level dealer jailed
A street-level drug pusher “corrupted” his teen girlfriend as he ran a lucrative and busy ice trafficking business in Central Queensland.
Now 43, he sourced drugs from 23 suppliers and was supporting at least 37 customers in their addiction to either methylamphetamine or marijuana.
When the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, could not get a job he began peddling drugs as a means of supporting his children, himself and his own habit.
As a result he became the target of a police operation to stamp out drug supply.
Crown prosecutor Sandra Cupina labelled it a “robust” drug trafficking business that ran between May 8 and December 1 in 2018 in an area west of Mackay.
The man pleaded guilty to trafficking, aggravated drug possession and possessing drugs.
He was jailed for five and a half years with parole eligibility on July 31, 2020, because of time already served.
Howard Kerry Lindsay
Using a canoe and electric bikes, a father and son would creep – in their minds undetected – to their $20 million drug crop and tend to the plants.
Little did Howard Kerry Lindsay and Anthony Howard Lindsay know, they were the targets of a six-month police operation.
A 72-year-old grandfather, father and four-time convicted drug grower, Howard Lindsay told police his son effectively “roped” him into the venture.
“I didn’t really want to get involved but then again he’s my son,” Mackay District Court heard Lindsay told his lawyer.
Between November 2018 and May 2019 Lindsay Sr and two of his kids sold 29 pounds and one ounce for $72,500 and Lindsay Sr offered to supply another 49 pounds, which would have returned $124,000 in profit had the sale gone through.
He was on parole at the time.
He pleaded guilty to trafficking and producing dangerous drugs and possessing growing equipment.
He was jailed for four years cumulative to an 8.5 year sentence.
Dean Michael Matthews
One back injury. Thirteen years of pain. Seven customers. Ten drug exchanges. Three years jail.
Dean Matthews, 38, had to serve four months of that term behind bars after receiving a “very lenient” sentence in Mackay Supreme Court.
But he would be released on parole and required to abide by strict conditions under supervision for the remainder of the jail term.
Standing in the prisoner’s dock awaiting sentence, he occasionally turned his head to cast his hollowed eyes upon his weeping wife and three children behind him.
They had stood by him, the court had heard.
But his wife had to step in and cut him off from the family finances when his addiction to illicit drugs took over.
Matthews turned to drug trafficking to fund his own habit when painkillers no longer masked the lingering pain from his lower back injury.
He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, supplying dangerous drugs and other drug-related offences.
Crown legal officer Ryan Godfrey told the court Matthews had a number of drug possession convictions on his criminal history since 2018.
He said fines had not deterred him and this offending was an escalation - noting there had been two drug-driving offences as well.
“Between February 5 and May 4 last year … he was identified as supplying on 10 occasions to seven different customers,” he said.
“The operation was limited and unsophisticated.
“Common drug terminology was used and communication occurred on the Facebook Messenger application.
“(Matthews) dealt in small quantities of methylamphetamines which he sourced 7g of at a time.”
When officers executed a search warrant at Matthews’s home, they found clipseal bags, scales, water pipes, 11g of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia.
Defence barrister Scott McLennan said his client was married to a woman he met when they attended Sarina State High School and they had three children aged 15, 13 and seven.
Scott Jasperse
A Mackay father of two lost a “hopeless case” when he denied $110,000 was the proceeds of a criminal offence.
Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said the 40 year old also “stymied a police investigation” and potentially concealed more serious offending when he refused to give up the passcode to his phone.
When police searched a Grasstree Beach property on August 27, 2020 officers found drugs – marijuana and ecstasy, utensils and a huge stash of cash, $109,965, which they alleged to be tainted property.
Mackay Magistrates Court heard Scott Jasperse had pleaded guilty to eight drug-related offences, but not guilty to possessing tainted property.
In June, 2021, Jasperse was jailed for 12 months with parole release after four months.
The $109,965 in cash and drug utensils were forfeited to the Crown and convictions were recorded.
He was also fined $500 and disqualified from driving for two months for drug-driving with ice and marijuana in his system on August 18, 2020.
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