Rockhampton’s Leeanne Jade Hartigan jailed for meth possession
A Central Queensland grandmother and former mine site cleaner who was busted with drugs days after being sentenced for dealing, has once again added to her seven-page rap sheet. DETAILS.
Police & Courts
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A Rockhampton grandmother with a seven-page criminal record, who was busted with more than eight grams of methamphetamines while on parole for supplying drugs, has avoided jail.
Rockhampton Supreme Court heard Leeanne Jade Hartigan, 47 was on parole when police raided a Norman Gardens unit on July 13, 2022.
There, they found 11.221 grams of “crystal substance” later revealed to be 8.49g of pure meth worth $4500-$5500 along with used syringes and digital scales.
The court heard Hartigan had previously been handed a two-year prison term for three counts of supplying illegal drugs but allowed immediate parole after the judge at the time found she’d had a change in circumstances and was working as a cleaner at the mines while also caring for her children.
Justice Graeme Crow on Wednesday noted Hartigan went on to reoffend within a week of the 2020 sentence and was busted possessing drugs six days later (for this she was sentenced in Gladstone District Court to six months in jail).
“That is of great concern to me,” Justice Crow said.
He also said Hartigan’s seven-page criminal record, with 16 magistrates court sentences and one district court sentence, showed she was first convicted for possessing drugs in 2012.
Justice Crow said the material before the court stated she started using drugs when she was a teenager.
A psychologist report was provided to the court showing Hartigan, who has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and polysubstance abuse disorder in the past, had attended seven sessions in 2019, none in 2022, and three in 2023.
Hartigan pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing more than two grams of a schedule one drug, possessing unsecured syringes and failing to comply with police direction to provide access to electronically stored information.
She was sentenced to three years in jail, wholly suspended and operational for five years.
Hartigan, a mother of three with grandchildren, was also placed on probation for three years.
Convictions were recorded.
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