Toowoomba court and crime: Darling Downs drug dealer list
From parents dealing drugs to make ends meet, to youngsters introduced to drugs by their family, here is a list of 28 drug dealers on the Darling Downs.
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Here are 28 drug dealers that have been sentenced in the Toowoomba courts in recent months:
1. James Lawrence Rountree-Whitmore
As a young boy, all James Lawrence Rountree-Whitmore wanted to do was be a motocross rider and make his parents proud, a court was told.
On Friday a judge gave him a second chance at both after the 21-year-old was spared time behind bars after he was convicted of trafficking methylamphetamine.
In Toowoomba Supreme Court the Goondiwindi man pleaded guilty to trafficking a dangerous drug, and six charges of supplying a dangerous drug.
2. Lyneeka Ann Wilson
A Darling Downs mother-of-two was running such a large meth operation, she had accumulated more than $410,000 in just five months, a court has heard.
Lyneeka Ann Wilson appeared in Toowoomba Supreme Court on Thursday where she pleaded guilty to a number of drug offences, including trafficking methylamphetamine.
3. Tanya Madge Nelson
A budgie breeder who attempted to use bird-related code to conceal her drug dealing operation from police has been jailed.
St George woman Tanya Madge Nelson was sentenced in the Toowoomba Supreme Court after pleading guilty to trafficking methylamphetamine.
4. Tristan Charles Bradley
A judge has described a man’s methylamphetamine trafficking as “persistent”, selling the drug for eight months, including while on bail and probation, to support his own ice habit.
Tristan Charles Bradley appeared in Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to a raft of drug charges, including trafficking methylamphetamine and three charges of supplying the same drug.
5. Ricky Edward Thompson
A “persistent but amateurish” drug operation that lasted for 14 months in the Darling Downs was brought down after police intercepted the phone messages of an ice user, a court has been told.
Ricky Edward Thompson appeared in Toowoomba Supreme Court where he pleaded guilty to trafficking dangerous drugs between January 2019 and September 2020.
6. Donna Rae Patricia Malone
One half of a husband and wife drug-dealing duo has been jailed after the mother of three’s drug habit spiralled out of control.
Luke John Malone and Donna Rae Patricia Malone both appeared in Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday where they pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.
7. Keith John Dyball
A Goondiwindi drug dealer’s four-month operation came unstuck after he unwittingly sold ice and weapons, including two stolen rifles, to undercover police officers.
Keith John Dyball appeared in Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to trafficking methylamphetamine to 35 different people between August 3 and December 10, 2019, as well as unlawfully supplying four weapons.
8. Tai John Hanson
A 39-year-old Miles man has been jailed for dealing drugs on the Western Downs.
Tai John Hanson had small amounts of meth and MDMA (ecstasy) in his backpack when picked up by police on a Dalby street.
However, it was by the messages on his mobile phone which told of the extent of his drug dealing.
9. Brigham Michael Taylor
A Toowoomba drug dealer who at times had a customer base of up to 60 people has been jailed for four years.
Brigham Michael Taylor had trafficked methylamphetamine (ice) to drug users over a 13-month period from March 2018, Toowoomba Supreme Court heard.
In what Crown prosecutor Ellen Fletcher described as a “not particularly sophisticated” operation, the 42-year-old sold meth in weights that were considered “street level” from “a point” (0.1g) up to 3.5g.
10. Warren Brian Slater
Using meth for pain relief turned to addiction and ultimately to trafficking which put a 52-year-old Toowoomba man in jail for the first time.
Warren Brian Slater had been caught dealing drugs over a seven week period from December 7, 2018, by police monitoring the phones of other drug dealers, Toowoomba Supreme Court heard.
He had just seven customers, but two of those customers were onselling the meth, Crown prosecutor Ellen Fletcher told the court.
11. Joshua Graham Manwaring
By his own barrister’s concession to Toowoomba Supreme Court, Warwick man Joshua Graham Manwaring was a “slow learner”.
The then 21-year-old was driving in Warwick on January 4, last year, when he was pulled over by police for a random breath test.
Looking nervous and panicky, police suspected he had drugs in the car and a subsequent search turned up 2.631g of pure meth in 3.45g of substance, Crown prosecutor Ellen Fletcher told the court.
12. Dad who supplied 15-y-o daughter with cannabis fronts Supreme Court
A man who thought little of supplying his 15-year-old daughter and two of her friends with cannabis now understands the seriousness of his actions after having to front Toowoomba Supreme Court.
The man, in his 50s, who is not named so as to protect the identity of his daughter and her two friends, was subject to a police search of his Pittsworth home on March 19 last year.
13. Ethan Douglas Lauder
Despite having not offended in two years and having put his life back on track, a Chinchilla father of two has been jailed for drug trafficking.
Ethan Douglas Lauder had trafficked methylamphetamine in the Chinchilla area over a 19-month period from January 13, 2017, Toowoomba Supreme Court was told.
14. Clayton Lindsay Mobbs
An audible sigh of relief rang out across Toowoomba Supreme Court when the judge told a 22-year-old drug dealer that he wouldn’t be going to jail.
Telling Goondiwindi man Clayton Lindsay Mobbs that he would put his family and friends in the court gallery at ease, Justice Martin Burns said: “I’m not going to send you to jail today.
“I’m going to place you on parole.”
Mobbs pleaded guilty to trafficking meth, MDMA (ecstasy) and cannabis in Goondiwindi over a three-month period from January 24, 2020.
15. Christian Glen Vane
Ordinarily, family support for a prisoner fronting court was a positive thing, but for Christian Glen Vane it was family who put him there.
The youngest of 11 siblings and step-siblings, the now 21-year-old had grown up with older brothers in and out of prison for various offending including illicit drugs.
Vane’s barrister Shane MacDonald told Toowoomba Supreme Court his client had been introduced to drugs at an early age and became drug addicted.
16. Cindy Ellen Cochrane
A mother of four will give birth to her fifth child behind bars after she was jailed for drug trafficking.
Cindy Ellen Cochrane had targeted fellow university students to whom she sold methamphetamine while studying a science and psychology degree.
Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie told Toowoomba Supreme Court when the university was on a break she had sold the drug in her home town of Dalby.
17. Skye Crystal Maas
A 31-year-old Toowoomba woman described by a Supreme Court judge as “very much a hardened drug dealer” has been jailed for trafficking methylamphetamine.
Skye Crystal Maas had been found with 12.4g of substance of which 9.346g of found to be pure meth after a police search of her then Gowrie Mountain home on July 25, 2019.
Also found was a small amount of cannabis, pipes for smoking it, scales for weighing drugs and used syringes including two which were loaded with meth, Toowoomba Supreme Court heard.
18. Elliot Jeffery Williamson
A man looking to supplement his JobKeeper payments by selling cannabis to his mates has found himself before a magistrate.
Elliot Jeffery Williamson, 23, pleaded guilty on Monday to 28 drug charges, including 23 counts of supplying cannabis.
Police prosecutor Jessica Lynch told the Toowoomba Magistrates Court that Williamson sold cannabis throughout 2020, from February to November.
19. Anita Wittington
A Toowoomba mum caught dealing cannabis told police she had to sell the drug or she wouldn’t be able to afford her own.
Anita Wittington had been with others at a Toowoomba home subject to a police search on the afternoon of March 31, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.
During the search police found 88.1g of cannabis, digital scales for weighing drug, a “tick sheet” of names and her mobile phone.
20. Katrina Leigh Edmondstone
A woman who trafficked drugs from Toowoomba to St George was nailed by police targeting another drug dealer.
Toowoomba Supreme Court was told a police operation had been set up to target a known drug trafficker in country towns west of Toowoomba.
As part of their investigation, police had scooped up one dealer, that had sourced drugs from Katrina Leigh Edmondstone, who had a customer base of about 15 at the time to whom she sold meth, ecstasy, cannabis, and soboxone.
Justice David Jackson sentenced Edmondstone to four years, six months in jail but, declaring the 130 days pre-sentence custody as time served, ordered the term be suspended after those 130 days for four years and six months.
She was also placed on three years probation.
21. Michelle Louise Sims
A Toowoomba mother missed her daughter’s 18th birthday celebrations after she was jailed for three years for drug trafficking.
Michelle Louise Sims pleaded guilty to trafficking meth between May 6, 2020, and September 5, 2020, supplying oxycodone to another on May 20, 2020, and supplying cannabis on June 2, 2020, as well as to possessing meth and diazepam tablets, a mobile phone, clip seal bags and three electric scales found during a police search of her Toowoomba home on September 4, 2020.
Crown prosecutor said the now 42-year-old Sims had a customer base of about 30 people and had sourced drugs from multiple suppliers including Nathan Lee Thompson, 31, who had since been jailed for eight years for trafficking.
Taking into account the 285 days already spent in custody, Justice Martin Burns sentenced Sims to three years in jail but ordered she be released on parole on April 3, 2022.
22. Paul Francis Henningsen
Paul Francis Henningsen had done the maths.
He purchased six pounds of cannabis for about $14,000 and if he sold it all in ounces he would have cleared about $10,000 in pure profit.
It was more than enough money to support his family and supplement his struggling agricultural contracting business, but the police had other ideas.
They raided the Darling Downs man’s home on November 28, 2019 seizing the cannabis and charging him with trafficking, two counts of possessing dangerous drugs over 500 grams and several lesser drug offences.
In November Henningsen appeared in the Toowoomba District Court to plead guilty to the charges.
Justice Dennis Lynch noted Henningsen’s early plea, his co-operation with the police and his remorse in ordering a head sentence of three years in jail with immediate parole.
23. Jake William Dwan
A little boy and his mother are without their dad and husband this Christmas after he was jailed for trafficking drugs while on parole for trafficking drugs.
Jake William Dwan had been jailed for three years but released on immediate parole after pleading guilty before Toowoomba Supreme Court in October 2017 to peddling ice, ecstasy and cannabis in the Warwick area over a six week period in 2016.
The now 25-year-old was subject to that parole order when he was caught trafficking primarily meth, but occasionally cannabis, over a seven month period from June 27, 2019
Dwan had a customer base of 20 people in the Warwick and surrounding district. Though it was accepted he was feeding his own meth habit, there had been some commercial element to the trafficking as Dwan had boosted his bank account by $54,000 over the same period despite the fact he was on Centrelink payments.
Justice Martin Burns sentenced Dwan to five years in jail, to commence after he had served the 15 months remaining on his last sentence, but ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole as of December 10, 2022.
24. Monique Sarah Deighton
A Warwick mum who trafficked meth and cannabis in the Rose City has been jailed for five years.
Monique Sarah Deighton pleaded guilty on Monday in Toowoomba Supreme Court to selling meth and cannabis over a seven month period from March to October 2019.
The court was told the 38-year-old had a customer base of at least 66 drug buyers but she conceded the trafficking had been at mainly street level.
Justice Martin Burns declared the 196 days Deighton had spent in pre-sentence custody as time served under the sentence and sentenced her to five years in jail but ordered she be eligible to apply for release on parole as of May 3, 2022, after having served a total 18 months in custody.
25. Tyler Maree Scoones
Two years in pre-sentence custody was deemed time enough for a drug dealing Toowoomba mum and her baby child who were released from prison.
An upbeat Tyler Maree Scoones, 28, appeared via video link from the women’s prison on Tuesday to plead guilty before Toowoomba Supreme Court to trafficking meth over a two-month period from November 28, 2019, and to possessing meth, MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine in amounts above the 2g schedule as well as to possessing cannabis and two handguns when arrested on February 7, 2020.
Noting the 676 days she had spent in pre-sentence custody, Justice Martin Burns sentenced Scoones to four and a half years in jail but ordered the whole term be suspended forthwith to hang over her head for the next five years during which time she was not to commit any further offence or risk being returned to jail to serve out the sentence.
Scoones was also placed on the maximum three years probation which would include random drug testing with any positive test deemed a breach of the order.
26. Holly Jade Matthews
A judge has handed down an “unsatisfactory” sentence to a Dalby woman that supplied quantities of up to an ounce of methylamphetamine at a time in a serious drug operation.
Holly Jade Matthews, 28, pleaded guilty to trafficking in dangerous drugs in Toowoomba between July and August 2020.
Rather than set a parole eligibility date, and subject Matthews to months behind bars due to the delays in the parole board hearing applications, Justice Martin Burns opted to take an “unsatisfactory” approach.
Despite earlier stating that Matthews “was just not a candidate” for a suspended sentence due to her “intense and disturbing” criminal history, he handed her four years behind bars, suspended for five years.
27. Megan Louise Ronan
A mother of four who was introduced to drugs and drug dealing by her partner has been jailed for trafficking methylamphetamine in Toowoomba.
Megan Louise Ronan, 49, pleaded guilty to trafficking methylamphetamine in Toowoomba Supreme Court, where it was revealed she had a customer base of about 33, with 10 regular customers, and she dealt drugs in various quantities up to a “ball” (3.5g).
Noting the range of penalty for such offending was three to five years in jail, Justice Martin Burns sentenced Ronan to three years in jail.
However, he ordered Ronan be released on parole on September 15, 2022, after she had served nine months of the term.
28. Billy Jay Gimm
A judge that had been coming to Toowoomba for seven years, and sentenced countless drug offenders, said no one had ever apologised to the community for their harmful actions.
That was until Billy Jay Gimm’s heartfelt letter to the court was tendered.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to trafficking methylamphetamine, and two charges of supplying gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in Toowoomba Supreme Court.
Gimm was convicted and handed a three-year prison sentence, suspended for four years, as well as three years probation.
Given Gimm had to serve out the remainder of the prison term imposed in 2019, as the trafficking offences took place while he was on parole, he will be eligible for release in February 9 2022.
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