Lisa Elliott, Ricky Scot Bradford, Cathy Emma Wainwright front Warwick court for drug offences

A Warwick man who racked up seven charges in only a few weeks, a mother nabbed with meth and weed in her family home, and more. These were the residents sentenced for drug crimes recently.

Methamphetamine pure crystals (also known as \\" P \\" ) being heated in a glass pipe by a police drugs officer during a controlled demonstration . 10 February 2003 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Martin SykesNZH 10feb04 - HOT DRUG : ESR says it gets about 25 new methamphetamine cases each month but is able to process only 15 of them. PICTURE / MARTIN SYKESBOP 9mar04 - NAD 3apr04 - BOP 23apr04 - BOP 14may04 - BOP 15apr06 - SUN 24jun07 - ROT 3may08 - NZH 15jul08 -RDP 24Jun10 - JAILED: Rotorua teenager Makiha Mihaka has been given a six-year jail term for the pack rape of a Rotorua woman. PICTURE / FILERDP 06Aug10 - TAKEN: A man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and P-related drugs charges.RDP 16Oct10 - P: Chauval sold ``high quality'' drugs for up to $18,000 an ounce. PICTURE / FILERDP 21Apr11 - UNNOTICED: Neighbours of the Ranginui St home never realised it was being used as a methamphetamine lab until police raided the property. PHOTOS/FILE LAB BUST: Police clean up after a raid on a Ranginui St methamphetamine manufacturing operation last year.RDP 17Oct11 -

A father-of-two who said a string of drug charges and a licence suspension in only a few months was a “real wake-up call” was just one of the drug offenders sentenced in the Warwick court recently.

Police raided Ricky Scot Bradford‘s Rosenthal Heights home on January 19, where they uncovered 3g marijuana along with a grinder and a bong.

It was only a few weeks later on February 19 the 37-year-old was busted driving along Baguley Street with methamphetamines and marijuana in his system.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the father-of-two was nabbed drug driving again on Locke Street on March 5, this time on a probationary licence.

Bradford was then stopped by police in the Warwick CBD on March 17, where he was busted with a glass pipe in his trackies pocket, which he admitted was used to smoke “crack”.

He also failed to appear for two court dates on June 27 and July 13.

Defence lawyer Clare Hine said her client was a stay-at-home dad for his children aged four and two, making him realise how important a licence was.

Bradford pleaded guilty to two counts each of drug driving, failure to appear, possessing drug utensils, and one count of possessing dangerous drugs.

He was fined $1800 and disqualified from driving for seven months.

Lisa Elliott claimed it was falling off the rehabilitation wagon that drove her latest spate of drug offending.

Police stopped the 43-year-old while she was walking on Wantley Street at about 11.30pm on March 5, where she told officers she had drugs and clean syringes with her.

The Warwick Magistrates Court was told Elliott was carrying 0.5g marijuana and a glass pipe with burnt residue on it, indicating it had been used for smoking meth.

It was only weeks later on March 18 that detectives raided the Warwick woman’s home.a tobacco-marijuana mix weighing less than 1g, 0.25g meth, two bongs, two glass pipes, two sets of scales, and clip seal bags.

The court heard Elliott was under a probation order at the time.

Defence lawyer Amber Acreman said the Warwick mother became addicted to heroin at 17, and had managed to stop using the opioid but struggled to cut drug use altogether.

“She knows she shouldn’t be using at all, Your Honour, and she is taking steps to abstain but it’s just a very difficult thing for her to manage given her age,” Ms Acreman said.

Magistrate Julian Noud told the Warwick woman it would be up to her and her mental strength to break the cycle of substance abuse, and urged her to continue rehabilitation efforts.

Elliott pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two counts of possessing drug utensils, and one count each of possessing an item connected to a drug offence and breaching a probation order.

She was fined $900.

Cathy Emma Wainwright claimed it was extreme emotional stress and desperation that drove her to fill someone else’s drug prescription.

The 42-year-old went to the Priceline pharmacy in Rose City Shoppingworld on February 11 to fill a script for ADHD medication, which she claimed was for one of the children in her care.

Police were called in later that day when the duty pharmacist discovered via medical records that the child hadn’t lived with Wainwright for some months.

Officers soon caught up with the mother-of-six and found she’d taken three of the 30 tablets, with the remainder seized by police.

Defence lawyer Amber Acreman told the court Wainwright had a clean criminal history and no substance abuse issues.

Ms Acreman said the Warwick woman and her husband cared for foster children alongside their own until February this year, and a number of behavioural and family issues pushed her to extreme measures.

“She suffers from anxiety and has been treated since she was a teenager. She was struggling with her mental health, she reached out for assistance but it was delayed, and she made some poor choices,” she said.

Wainwright pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining a condition drug without a prescription.

She was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and no conviction was recorded.