Kirsty Evelyn McLeish pleaded guilty for supplying dangerous drugs
A police operation targeting the supply of drugs throughout regional Queensland uncovered texts from one woman’s phone which revealed the extent of her meth dealing.
Police & Courts
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Text messages have revealed a woman’s drug offending, including the instances in which she supplied meth to another offender.
Kirsty Evelyn McLeish, 37, pleaded guilty to nine drug-related charges including five counts of supplying a dangerous drug when she faced Maryborough District Court last week.
The court was told McLeish’s offending came to light during a police operation targeting drug trafficking in the North and South Burnett regions.
One of people targeted by the operation was Mele Lineti Sanipepa Cross who pleaded guilty in the Bundaberg Supreme Court last month to four charges, including drug trafficking and theft.
Text messages between McLeish and Cross were discovered during the course of the operation, the court was told.
The texts indicated McLeish had supplied meth to Cross on a number of occasions.
A mobile phone and a clip seal bag of meth was found inside a car in which McLeish was a passenger, the court heard.
During the search of the car, she became verbally abusive towards police and was released without charge at the time, the court was told.
But on November 1, 2021, police executed a search warrant at McLeish’s home.
The officers found a small quantity of cannabis at her home and she was arrested for the other offences, as well as possession of the cannabis.
The court was told McLeish’s offending had breached three suspended sentences.
The nine days McLeish had spent in custody had encouraged her rehabilitation, the court was told.
It was described in court as the catalyst for her rehabilitation, with McLeish since taking over her mother’s cleaning business.
Judge Michael Burnett said the texts between McLeish and Cross revealed five street level supplies of meth between the two.
He said the brief period of custody had proven to be a wake up call for McLeish.
Mr Burnett described her rehabilitation as “well advanced”.
He urged her to continue on her present course and to stay away from drugs.
“You should know better than most that in rural communities and small regional communities this drug has a devastating effect on those communities,” Mr Burnett said.
McLeish’s other charges included two counts of possessing a dangerous drug, one count of possessing property suspected of being acquired for committing a drug offence and one count of possessing property suspected of being used in the commission of a drug offence.
McLeish was given a head sentence of 12 months’ prison and the three suspended sentences hanging over her were activated, to be served cumulatively.
She was given immediate release on parole.
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