Vanessa Eileen Fielder, Albert Thomas O’Neill and Electra Tracey Knight sentenced for Rockhampton meth trafficking business

A trio has been sentenced in a Rockhampton court for their drug trafficking business after police uncovered $65,000 cash and a meth stash. FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE.

The ring leader of a drug trafficking business posed for photographs with a large wad of cash before police found $65,620 hidden in a safe at her friend’s house.

Vanessa Eileen Fielder, Albert Thomas O’Neill and Electra Tracey Knight were sentenced in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton this week for their roles in the drug trafficking enterprise.

Knight, 37, pleaded guilty to seven counts of supplying a dangerous drug, one of possessing more than two grams of a dangerous drug and one of possessing Australian currency reasonably suspected to be tainted property.

Fielder, 35, and O’Neill, 31, both pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking, with the court hearing Fielder started trafficking before O’Neill became involved.

O’Neill also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing property reasonably suspected to be tainted property, one of possessing a mobile phone used in the commission of a drug crime and one count of possessing drug utensils.

The court heard the trafficking operation ran from March 5, 2020 to June 13, 2020 with Knight supplying drugs seven times during that period in Norman Gardens and O’Neill starting his role in the business on May 8, 2020.

Crown prosecutor Maryam Yousufzai said Fielder directed Knight to carry out the supplies.

Police searched the residences of the defendants on June 12, 2020 with $1225 found in Fielder’s wallet which was in her handbag where a record of debt for $23,750 was located.

Ms Yousufzai said photographs of Fielder posing with large quantities of cash, taken days before the search, were found on O’Neill’s phone.

Police also located 2.229g of pure methamphetamine at Knight’s residence, along with $65,620 cash in a safe.

“Also in the safe was a sale of property document to Fielder for $10,000,” Ms Yousufzai said.

She said among the cash were two $50 notes given by an undercover police officer when he purchased meth from a man who had sourced drugs from O’Neill.

Ms Yousufzai said messages on the phones located in the searches contained the evidence for the trafficking.

She said the business owed its supplier $8,900 on June 6, 2020, and prior to that, “they had repaid their supplier $33,000”.

“The business sourced and supplied between 336 grams and 364 grams of meth,” Ms Yousufzai said.

She said they sold drugs to low level suppliers who on sold the drugs.

Ms Yousufzai said 10 customers were identified and supplies were made in quantities between one gram and 20 grams.

She said it was the Crown’s allegation that Fielder and Knight both had an interest in the money found in the safe at Knight’s residence.

Ms Yousufzai said Fielder directed Knight and O’Neill to pay a $10,000 debt to their supplier.

The court heard Knight’s grandmother had left her the house.

Justice Peter Davis said the way the Crown framed the facts, Knight was “some sort of agent who just does things. But she’s not doing it for profit herself. She’s not taking any of the proceeds at all. And she’s not doing it as part of the trafficking from her point of view”.

He said a psychiatrist report before the court showed Knight was a “vulnerable person” who was “open to suggestions” and became involved in this illegal activity.

“She’s acting in a situation where she’s putting herself at very, very grave legal risk for absolutely no logical reason at all,” Justice Davis said.

He said the psychiatrist report outlined that Knight was diagnosed with complex post traumatic stress disorder from childhood trauma, along with drug dependence addiction and borderline personality disorder and that she was prone to “reclusive, reckless and self destructive behaviours”.

Ms Yousufzai said Knight was friends with O’Neill and Fielder and she supplied the drugs in order to “feed her own drug addiction”, outlined by the evidence that she sought permission from Fielder to take a little bit of the drugs stored for her own use.

Fielder’s defence barrister Simon Lewis said his client, a mother of three, received a message from Knight on March 6 informing her she could put her in touch with someone regarding drugs.

Mr Lewis said Fielder had hired a car and crashed it, resulting in a $7000 debt.

He said she had injured her shoulder and that, combined with Covid, resulted in the loss of her job she had for 17 years working as a massage therapist.

Mr Lewis said Fielder had been using marijuana for pain from her injury. He said she now had a prescription for medicinal marijuana.

Mr Lewis said Fielder had recently been working as a cleaner, saving money for her mother to use to care for her children while incarcerated.

“She got involved with this out of need, not greed,” he said.

Mr Lewis said she had a limited criminal record.

O’Neill’s defence barrister Phil Hardcastle said his client was in a relationship with Fielder and they had a 12-month-old son together.

The court heard both Fielder and O’Neill had character references from Naomi George and Rockhampton magistrates court senior registrar Mark Morrow who was in court in support during the sentencing.

Albert Thomas O’Neill, along with his partner Vanessa Eileen Fielder, were sentenced in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton on May 18 for trafficking methamphetamines.

Mr Hardcastle said O’Neill had undertaken a rehabilitation course since being charged.

He said his father died when he was 16, he did not have a good relationship with his mother and his brothers (one now deceased) spent time in prison while he was growing up.

Mr Hardcastle said his client, who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, had worked various jobs after high school and most recently, and the longest period he has held down a job, O’Neill had worked at Rockhampton Riverside Central carrying out maintenance work, which was how he knew Ms George.

He said O’Neill had also completed three years of a chef apprenticeship.

Justice Davis sentenced Knight to 12 months prison with immediate parole.

He sentenced O’Neil to three years prison, declared one day presentence custody as time served and set parole release on May 16, 2023.

Justice Davis sentenced Fielder to four years prison, suspended after serving 15 months and operational for four years.

“You ran a productive life until becoming involved in drugs,” he said.

“There’s reason to believe that you’ll be able to put this episode behind you.”