Madison Kate Cook-Long, Russel Vincent Gimm face Toowoomba Supreme Court for drug possession charges

Despite confessing to police that nearly 24g of MDMA found in a raid of a convicted methylamphetamine trafficker’s home was hers, a Toowoomba woman has avoided a conviction.

A young woman woman who owned up to officers that a large quantity of MDMA belonged to her during a drug raid at another convicted meth trafficker’s home.

Madison Kate Cook-Long, 24, and Russel Vincent Gimm, 26, both fronted Toowoomba Supreme Court on Friday where they pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs.

Cook-Long pleaded guilty to possession of MDMA, while Gimm pleaded guilty to possessing a controlled substance without a prescription. The pair were both named on an indictment for possession of methylamphetamine and cannabis.

The court was told that on June 24, 2020 police executed a search warrant on Gimm’s Toowoomba property and found Cook-Long in his bedroom where 23.8g of MDMA was found on a bedside table with a set of scales.

Madison Kate Cook-Long, 24, was spared a conviction for possessing dangerous drugs.

Crown prosecutor Ellen Fletcher said the search also uncovered 0.6g of methylamphetamine found in a sunglasses case and 96g of cannabis in separate quantities.

The court was told a day after the raid Cook-Long attended Toowoomba Police Station to confess the MDMA was hers for personal use, as well as 91g of cannabis.

Ms Fletcher said while there was a “large” quantity of drugs found in the raid, there was no evidence to suggest there was any transaction taking place.

Ms Fletcher said at the time of the offence Gimm had 20 previous drug convictions, including one of trafficking methylamphetamine in 2019, and he had served periods in custody as a result.

Cook-Long’s barrister Jessica Goldie told the court her client’s drug problems stemmed from an unhappy household and the separation of her parents.

Ms Goldie said Cook-Long had managed to get clean when she moved away from Toowoomba to Brisbane where she started a law degree, joined a band and started a photography business.

Russel Vincent Gimm, 26, was convicted in Toowoomba Supreme Court for possessing dangerous drugs.

The court was told Cook-Long relapsed into drug use after she was allegedly assaulted and had been self-medicating with drugs including MDMA and methylamphetamine as a result.

Ms Goldie said since her arrest she had been 15 months clean and was back producing music and working on her photography and film business, while continuing her law studies.

Gimm’s barrister Scott Lynch said his client was working to straighten his life out, and was living with family that had a “noticeable impact” on his attitude.

Justice Peter Callaghan said while there was no evidence of a commercial aspect to the offence, there needed to be personal deterrence in the sentence.

“It has been said that a drug such as MDMA is something of a ‘party drug’, but nothing says ‘party over’ like spending weekends working on a community project,” he said.

Cook-Long was handed a two year, three month probation order with 120 hours community service. No conviction was recorded.

Gimm was sentenced to 18 months probation, and a conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Madison Kate Cook-Long, Russel Vincent Gimm face Toowoomba Supreme Court for drug possession charges