Mount Morgan father Jeramiah Owen Warriner, 36, trafficked marijuana for eight months to support his own habit

The man had 31 customers over an eight-month period including some aged 16 to 18. Here’s what happened when he faced court this week.

A Central Queensland drug trafficker who sold illicit substances to at least three teenagers had turned to using drugs to “calm his epilepsy” after his mother’s death.

Jeramiah Owen Warriner, 36, pleaded guilty on May 25 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of trafficking marijuana.

Crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton said three of the 31 customers Warriner supplied drugs to during the eight-month trafficking period – August 14, 2020, to April 10, 2021 – were aged 16-18.

He said there were 88 offers to supply in messages on Warriner’s phone and it was estimated, from those messages, that Warriner supplied a total of 1.5kg during the trafficking period.

Mount Morgan father Jeramiah Owen Warriner, 36, trafficked marijuana for eight months to support his own habit.

The court heard Warriner, a Mount Morgan resident, supplied 327g of marijuana on three occasions, 114g on two occasions and 227g on three occasions.

Mr Sutton said the trafficking was detected from messages on Warriner’s phone which was seized during a search on April 9, 2021, but the trafficking charge was not laid until September 2021, a month after he was sentenced for possessing drugs found during the April search.

Defence barrister Scott Moon said his client provided police with the pincode to his phone the day it was seized.

He said since this offending, Warriner had engaged with Lives Lived Well and a psychologist.

Mr Moon said Warriner’s mother, who he was close to, died from a stomach cancer when he was 14, and his father, who he had very little to do with, died last year.

He said Warriner had four brothers and five sisters.

Mr Moon said his client had been introduced to marijuana at a young age, when he was about 13 or 14 years old, and “used it to calm his epilepsy”.

He said Warriner’s usage increased to seven grams per day before he became an adult.

Mr Moon said after Warriner left school, receiving a grade nine education, he worked in plastering for about 10 years.

He said Warriner had been in a serious crash about 2010 and after spending six to 12 months in hospital for extensive rehabilitation, had struggled with a long-term back injury and gaining employment as an unskilled worker.

Mr Moon said his client had shared care for a seven-year-old son he had during a 10-year relationship and two older daughters from a previous relationship, having all three children in his care in one-week rotations.

He said Warriner’s goals were to remain engaged with Lives Lived Well and the psychologist and not resort back to the way of life that led to the trafficking.

Mr Moon said his client trafficked marijuana to support his own habit.

Mr Sutton said Warriner’s four-page criminal record showed he had been convicted for possessing marijuana leaf and/or seeds twice in 2006, once in 2008, was convicted for having two plants in 2009, possessing marijuana twice in 2015, supplied it in 2016, possessed 171g on one occasion in 2021 and 77g on another.

Judge Brian Devereaux said the gaps in Warriner’s offending suggested he could live a life without offending.

He sentenced Warriner to 2.5 years prison, wholly suspended and operational for four years.