Annika Eddie, Dale Garratt: Brisbane duo guilty of trafficking

A Brisbane cleaner who pleaded guilty to trafficking and possession of dangerous drugs was lured into her drug kingpin boyfriend’s business after his offer to get her ‘super high’.

A Brisbane cleaner who has struggled with a lifelong addiction to multiple substances was “led astray” by her meth kingpin boyfriend, who tempted her by offering to get her “really high” if she helped run his trafficking empire.

Childers-born Upper Mount Gravatt woman Annika Elizabeth Eddie, 33, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday to trafficking in a dangerous drug and possessing dangerous drugs.

The court heard her trafficking period was between August 14 – October 18, 2019 at Holland Park and elsewhere.

Eddie assisted her former Holland Park boyfriend, Dale Jay Garratt, 30, traffic in methamphetamine, GHB (i.e. fantasy) and cannabis.

Garratt trafficked in drugs from October 9, 2018 – October 18, 2019.

Annika Elizabeth Eddie, 33, of Upper Mount Gravatt. Picture: John Gass.

Eddie assisted Garratt by acting as an intermediary and driver, and also by allowing use of her bank account to facilitate transactions, the court heard.

She also helped Garratt avoid police detection twice.

She and Garratt were ultimately arrested and charged at a Birkdale address on October 17, 2019.

In addition to drug trafficking, Eddie was also charged with possessing cannabis, buprenorphine strips, and Alprazolam.

Garratt was ultimately charged with 33 offences.

They included drug trafficking, six counts of possessing weapons, and possessing a cornucopia of illegal drugs and substances.

He was sentenced on March 8 this year to eight years’ imprisonment.

Garratt will be parole eligible on June 16 next year, taking into account the 508 days he spent remanded in pre-sentence custody.

Eddie spent 184 days remanded in pre-sentence custody before she was granted bail.

In court yesterday, defence counsel John Jacob told the court Eddie was “not aware” of the full extent of Garratt’s operation.

He said Eddie, whose lengthy criminal history consists solely of drug offences, commencing in 2008 with possession of ecstasy and cannabis, had kicked her habits following a 12-month imprisonment order with immediate parole on November 2, 2017, but relapsed after forming a relationship with Garratt.

Mr Jacob said Garratt “took advantage” of her relapse by offering to get her “super high” if she took him for drives and performed other trafficking-related tasks.

“She was reliant on Garratt for drugs,” he told the court.

Mr Jacob said Eddie, a former childcare worker, was now employed as a cleaner and lived on her own with a pet at Upper Mount Gravatt.

Justice Paul Freeburn QC told Eddie she had been “led astray” by Garratt.

He sentenced her to three years’ imprisonment with immediate release on parole, taking into account the six months she already served.