19 meth mums, dads from Gympie, Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Burnett courts
Drug offences across the region have crept up for a third straight year, with mums and dads among those facing court after getting tangled up with meth. LIST
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The battle against drugs and meth in the Wide Bay Burnett continues to be a challenge, with offence numbers creeping up across the region.
MyPolice data shows the number of recorded drug offences across the wider region took a step back in 2024, increasing again for the third straight year after a brief period of decline.
The figures show 3606 drug offences were recorded in 2024 – well below the 20-year high of 4844 offences reported in 2016. However, it was still up 13 per cent on 2023’s offence total of 3189.
Kingaroy was the worst afflicted of the Wide Burnett’s major cities with its drug offence rate of 2484 narrowly topping out over Bundaberg’s rate of 2398.
It was especially bad in Bundaberg with the number of recorded drug offences in 2024 (1564) totalling more than the number of offences at Hervey Bay (511), Gympie (511) and Maryborough (446) combined.
The problem has become so extensive police undertook an extraordinary series of 65 raids across the region in August 2024.
These are some of the offenders with families who faced Gympie, Bundaberg, the Fraser Coast and the South Burnett courts in the past two years for dealing, possessing, or using meth.
METH DEALING
Astrid Jean Forrester Turner
A Widgee mother of three avoided time behind bars in April 2024 after pleading guilty to a “street level” drug dealing supplying 12 customers across a two-month period.
Brisbane’s Supreme Court heard Astrid Jean Forrester Turner, 27, was the passenger in a car pulled over by police in a Southside car park on May 11, 2022.
Sentencing documents published online say during the stop police found a white Guess handbag in the car which the 27-year-old identified as hers.
Officers then found a mobile phone, methylamphetamine, a glass pipe, clip seal bags, a lighter and pick straws inside the bag.
Forrester Turner initially denied they were hers and claimed she did not have PIN to allow access to the phone, but handed the number over a week later after being served with a police order.
Forrester Turner pleaded guilty in court to one count of trafficking, four counts of supplying dangerous drugs, and one count of possessing an item used in the commission of a crime.
She was sentenced to three years’ jail, and released immediately on parole owing to 66 days of time already served in pre-sentence custody.
Rade Trivanovic
A 40-year-old Gympie dad faced court in February 2024 to plead guilty after police found evidence linking him to drug and weapons supply on his phone.
Rade Trivanovic appeared in the Gympie District Court and pleaded guilty to 18 charges of possession of drugs and weapons, and supply of drugs and weapons.
Police went through Trivanovic’s phone when he was arrested for his involvement in a stabbing which happened at Gympie’s Toucan Cafe in December 2022, the court heard.
Police found messages on Trivanovic’s phone indicating supply or offer of supply of cannabis and methamphetamine between October and November of 2022.
The court heard how Trivanovic worked as a car detailer for a while after school and managed to turn his life around when he became a role model to his partner’s children, and later to his own son.
He was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an immediate parole release date.
Kiarnu Rangi Ching
A drug dealer’s mobile phone gave him away when he was stopped by police, with text messages revealing he had been asked to supply two grams of meth.
Kiarnu Rangi Ching, 29, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to supplying drugs, possessing an item connected to the commission of a crime, and possessing a knife in a public place when he faced Hervey Bay District Court.
The court heard Ching, the father of a four-year-old girl, had been intercepted on Murphy St, Point Vernon, on April 27, 2024, and police searched his mobile phone.
It contained messages in offering to supply two grams of meth for an unknown price.
He was also found in possession of four grams of a cutting agent commonly used with meth and a retractable utility knife, the court heard.
The court heard Ching had ambitions of being an assistant tradesman specialising in airconditioning.
Judge Gary Long said Ching had a lengthy criminal history and it was an aggravating feature.
Ching was sentenced to 14 months prison with immediate parole.
Sammy-Jo Pavey
A heavily pregnant young mum has been slammed for “having kids in the middle of this chaos” as she appeared in court for drug dealing in August 2024.
Sammy-Jo Pavey, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of supplying a dangerous drug when she faced the Hervey Bay District Court.
The court was told on April 14, 2024, Pavey was talking to an “associate” on Facebook Messenger and arranged a supply of a “half ball”, or 1.75g of meth for an unknown amount of money.
Pavey had later met with the person and had supplied the meth, the court was told.
The court heard she had a five-page criminal history and was pregnant with her third child.
She was sentenced to 12 months in prison with immediate release on parole.
Kim Buckley Beech
A former real estate agent behind a “wholesale trafficking” operation who traded meth for sex and buried drug cash in his garden also terrorised a woman driving her toddlers by throwing beer stubbies at them along the road way.
Brisbane Supreme Court heard in July 2023 Hervey Bay’s Kim Buckley Beech was the target of a police operation probing the trafficking of methamphetamine in the Wide Bay area.
Police used surveillance and telephone intercepts to build their case against the UK-born Beech who mostly sold 8-balls, or 3.5 grams, but in one transaction offloaded three ounces of meth.
Crown prosecutor Chris Cook said Beech, whose drug network involved his wife and daughter, sold ounces for $12,000 but also offered it at a discounted $11,000k at different times.
Beech used female customers to become local suppliers, providing them with meth and customers in return for sex, the court heard.
Mr Cook said the 63-year-old engaged in “wholesale trafficking” for just under nine months starting June 2020.
Beech pleaded guilty to trafficking, supplying drugs, obtaining property from trafficking, possessing anything in connection with trafficking, wilful damage, common assault and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
He was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for the trafficking and one year for the dangerous operation to be served cumulatively. He was disqualified from driving for six months.
He will be eligible for parole from March 24, 2026.
Giuseppe Michael Catalano
Text messages between a meth dealer and his client haggling over price and making arrangements to meet up were revealed as the dealer was sentenced in Bundaberg District Court.
Giuseppe Michael Catalano, 25, pleaded guilty in September, 2023, to six counts of supplying a dangerous drug (methylamphetamine) after the deals were discovered on his phone.
Assistant Crown Prosecutor Chantelle Le Grand told the court Catalano came to the attention of police through an operation targeting methylamphetamine supply in March 2023, when they downloaded the contents of a mobile phone belonging to his former associate.
Text messages on the phone showed Catalano discussing the supply of methylamphetamine to the associate three times between February 1 and May 31, 2021, with Catalano, 23 at the time of the offending, offering to supply the drug on two occasions and actually supplying it on one occasion.
Catalano’s defence barrister, Callan Cassidy, told the court that in the two-and-a-half years since the period of his offending his client has been drug free and obtained employment on a Bundaberg farm.
The court heard Catalano had re-engaged with his young daughter, and spent his time off caring for her every fortnight.
Taking into account Catalano’s age, employment, good character references and the fact he was caring for his daughter, Judge John Allen sentenced him to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Ashleigh Margaret Hamerton
A Bundaberg mother was sent to jail in May, 2024, over drug trafficking, a crime a Supreme Court justice described as part of the “horrible, evil” rise in domestic violence across the region.
Ashleigh Margaret Hamerton pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking and one count of possessing dangerous drugs exceeding two grams in the Bundaberg Supreme Court.
The 34-year-old appeared in the court after police raided her Burnett Heads home on March 24, 2021.
The court was told police climbed a locked fence to access her property, where they found more than seven grams of pure methamphetamines along with scales, clip seal bags and a mobile phone belonging to Hamerton.
Upon gaining access to the phone and bank records, police concluded Hamerton had been trafficking drugs at a street level for eight months between July 2020 and May 2021.
According to police, Hamerton had at least 45 customers, who in 160 transactions paid her $46, 536.
Justice Graeme Crow sentenced Hamerton to six years imprisonment for trafficking with eligibility for parole in nine months and convicted and not further punished for possession.
METH POSSESSION OR USE
Dylan John Podetti
A police roadside pullover ended with a drug driver busted while possessing 2.4g of meth, a hatchet and three knives.
Dylan John Podetti, 27, pleaded guilty in Maryborough Magistrate’s Court in December, 2024, to possessing dangerous drugs, possession of knives and a weapon and driving under the influence.
Police Prosecutor Sonia Edwards said Podetti had been stopped by police on Bidwill Rd about 4am on September 20, 2024.
Podetti underwent a roadside drug test and returned a positive result.
A search of the car revealed a clipseal bag with the meth inside.
Three knives and a hatchet were also found during the search.
A blood test later revealed the presence of meth and amphetamines in Podetti’s system.
Mr Milburn fined Podetti $2200 and disqualified him for driving for three months.
Convictions were recorded on all charges.
Kellie Anne Voss
A mum claims she had smoked ice only once days before she was busted drug-driving by police while entering the car park at the Maryborough Correctional Centre.
Kellie Anne Voss pleaded guilty to one count of drug-driving when she faced Maryborough Magistrates Court in February, 2024.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Rob Booth said on November 9, 2023, police were carrying out roadside drug tests and breath tests at Maryborough Correctional Centre at Aldershot.
Voss, who was driving a Holden, was stopped by police and she returned a positive result to the drug test, Sgt Booth said.
She later supplied a specimen of saliva that later tested positive for meth.
The court heard Voss was a 40-year-old single mum with two children.
Magistrate John Milburn sentenced Voss on grounds her use of the drug was a “one-off experiment”.
Voss was convicted, fined $350, and disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for one month.
Martin Nerowski
A man attempting to courier more than 200g of meth in a baby seat found himself facing court in May, 2024, after police tracked him down on the Bruce Hwy.
Martin Nerowski pleaded guilty to one count of possessing dangerous drugs exceeding two grams in the Bundaberg Supreme Court.
The court was told Nerowski was acting as a courier for a Rockhampton person known to the drug scene when he was targeted by police.
On August 9, 2023, the court heard Nerowski flew from Brisbane to Rockhampton to collect cash from a woman, before returning to Brisbane on a Greyhound bus, still carrying the cash.
Six days later, police learned Nerowski was travelling back to Rockhampton via car and intercepted him on the Bruce Hwy in Wallaville.
“The car was searched and police obtained three tupperware containers concealed in a child’s booster seat,” Justice Graeme Crow told the court.
According to police, the food storage containers revealed a number of clip seal bags containing 251.6g of methamphetamines.
Nerowski was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with eligibility for parole after two years served. Convictions were recorded.
Seth Patrick Miller
A Bundaberg father-of-four tried to trick two teenage girls into helping him find a puppy before masturbating in front of them, a court has heard.
Seth Patrick Miller, 36, was at Hinkler Central when he approached two 13-year-old girls on May 22, 2024.
During his February, 2025 sentencing in Bundaberg District Court Crown prosecutor Luke Smoothy described the “concerning ruse” where Miller asked the two teens to help him find a puppy.
When they refused, he moved a short distance away before exposing himself and masturbating.
The court heard the two teens ran away while Miller shouted at them to come back.
Police were called to the scene where Miller denied any wrongdoing and told police he had been urinating.
Police found Miller was in possession of methamphetamine at the time of the offending.
Miller pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of child under 16 by exposure.
He was released from prison on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, having served 272 days in pre-sentence custody with the operational period extended to four months owing to his breach of a suspended sentence.
Fiona Louise King
A Bundaberg mother has a prison sentence hanging over her head after police found several grams of pure methamphetamines in her home.
Fiona Louise King pleaded guilty in April, 2024 to one count of possessing dangerous drugs exceeding two grams and one count of possessing dangerous drugs.
The 50-year-old appeared in the Bundaberg Supreme Court with what Justice Graeme Crow called a “deeply troubling” criminal history.
The court heard King had a decades-long issue with drugs, stemming from 15 years old when she left her “happy childhood home” to move in with her then partner, who was involved with drugs.
From then, the mother of four developed an addiction that would result in several court appearances during which she was told the courts would “eventually run out of sympathy”.
King was sentenced to a two-and-half-year prison sentence for the first possession charge, and convicted and not further punished on the lesser possession charge, with immediate parole.
Shanay Lee-Ann Kane
A Bundaberg mother went on a crime spree, stealing from Bundaberg businesses and rural properties, because she was mixed up with the wrong crowd and bored while on drugs, a Bundaberg court heard.
Shanay Lee-Ann Kane pleaded guilty in March, 2024 at Bundaberg Magistrates Court to a string of offences including break and enter, unlawful possession of weapons, evading police and receiving stolen property
The court heard Kane, 24, committed 23 offences through a 21-month period from April 1, 2022 to January 11, 2024.
Police prosecutor Vicki Kennedy-Grills told the court in June 2022 police conducted a search warrant on a property Kane shared with her partner.
The court was told during the search police found Kane was in possession of one of a stolen laptop, identified as Bundaberg council property by stickers on its surface.
Sgt Kennedy-Grills told the court from March 12 to 26, 2023, Kane and a co-offender broke into a number of rural properties and stole items including a trailer and machine tools.
Kane’s defence lawyers said all of his client’s offending was “because of drugs, or she was on drugs at the time” and she “gets bored and does stupid stuff” when using them.
Magistrate John McInnes sentenced Kane to 12 months’ imprisonment with a parole release date of April 11.
Twyla Tamika Robbins
After a mum’s young child was killed in a freak accident and died in her arms, her life eventually spun out of control with drugs, a court has heard.
Twyla Tamika Robbins pleaded guilty in March, 2024 to eight drug related charges at Murgon Magistrates Court including possessing drug utensils and failing to dispose of used syringes.
Police prosecutor Lisa Manns said on two separate occasions, police intercepted a car where Robbins was the passenger and found her in possession of drug utensils and used syringes.
One of the searches turned up .2g of methamphetamine along with a “used needle and syringe”.
Sgt Manns told the court Robbins had purchased the meth for $100 from Kingaroy.
Robbins solicitor, Colin Murray from Murray Law explained the tragic circumstances that led to Robbins drug habit.
“She’s a mother of six children, one of those children is deceased,” Mr Murray said.
“(She) suffered a terrible tragedy around 10 years ago when her second child was crushed by a very large … television. It had toppled onto the young child and died in her arms with her two other young children with her.”
In making his ruling, Magistrate Andrew Sinclair said a period of probation for two years may assist Robbins.
Convictions were recorded.
Michael Sciberras
In 2020 Michael Sciberras was struck by one of the worst tragedies imaginable when his 22-yeard-old son, Cody, was killed in a horrific crash on the Pacific Hwy.
It was an event which contributed to his ending up in court for a series of dangerous driving decisions.
Gympie Magistrates Court heard in September, 2023 the 51-year-old truck driver, from Park Ridge South near Logan, turned to methylamphetamines to cope with the loss.
He was pulled over in his Kenilworth semi-trailer at Gin Gin on October 12, 2022.
Police prosecutor Mel Campbell told the court Sciberras had recorded 11-and-a-half hours in his logbook, 30 minutes shy of the 12-hour limit imposed on truck drivers.
However, cameras spread along the length of the highway showed Sciberras had in fact been behind the wheel for “close to 14 hours”, which Sgt Campbell said was a “critical breach” of the law.
A roadside drug test also found traces of drugs in his saliva, and the court heard the 51-year-old had “made no effort to stop” his semi-trailer at a red light on the Bruce Hwy.
Magistrate Bevan Hughes fined Sciberras $3875 and disqualified him from driving for three months.
Anthony Holt
A Kawungan plasterer was released from Hervey Bay Magistrates court on parole after being convicted of 14 offences committed over a five-month period.
Anthony Holt, 41, pleaded guilty in December, 2023 to receiving tainted property, possessing explosives, two counts of possessing dangerous drugs, supplying dangerous drugs, possessing utensils or pipes which had been used, driving without a licence, stealing, fraud, trespass, enter premises and commit indictable offence, contravening a police direction, and breaching bail.
The court heard Holt committed the offences between December 3, 2022, and May 10, 2023, including the theft of a backpack from a third party who wanted the backpack to be provided to a child.
“You were essentially stealing from your own daughter when you decided to take the backpack,” Magistrate Trinity McGarvie told Holt.
Holt’s lawyer Virginia Ukpabi told the court her client’s offending had occurred at a time he was suffering mental health issues as a result of remembering abuse he experienced.
The curt heard he “intends to work in Emerald and believes leaving Hervey Bay will be beneficial for him as working on his methamphetamine and cannabis issues”.
Ms McGarvie sentenced Holt to four and half month’s imprisonment with immediate parole, fined him $650 and disqualified him from driving for six months. Read more
Kahla Jai Thatcher
A former beauty salon owner and mum of four landed in jail after being found unconscious behind the wheel on a busy Brisbane highway with six different drugs in her system and with a loaded rifle in her car.
Kahla Jai Thatcher, 31, pleaded guilty March, 2o24 at the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court to 14 charges.
These were three counts of driving while the under influence of liquor or drug, driving while suspended, weapon possession, possession of ammunition, five counts of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of a utensil, the breaking of bail conditions and the unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Police were called to the Gateway Mwy in Rochedale on August 19, 2023, about 1.36am after reports of a white Skoda “driving all over the road and having crashed into the central barrier” police prosecutor Louesa McConnell told the court.
The court was told police found Thatcher “slumped” over the wheel and unconscious after driving from Kirra in the Gold Coast.
A licence check showed it was suspended and she was wanted on a warrant, Ms McConnell said.
When removed from the vehicle, officers noted she was “uneasy” on her feet, the police prosecutor told the court.
Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded sawn-off .22 bolt-action rifle in a bag along with a curved blade, 1.42g of methamphetamine and nine cocaine tablets.
The court heard an initial breath test came back negative for alcohol for Thatcher and a drug test conducted at a nearby hospital came back positive for six drugs including amphetamines, methamphetamines and diazepam.
Magistrate Trinity McGarvie sentenced Thatcher to two years’ imprisonment with a parole release date of May 19.
Simoi Alexander Sipi
A man who threatened and robbed a another with a sharp object after being awake for four straight days landed himself a prolonged stay behind bars.
In May 2024, Simoi Alexander Sipi, 33, lured a man into a carpark with the alleged help of a female accomplice who took the man’s glasses near the Torquay Hotel, Hervey Bay, the city’s district court heard in February.
It was then that he showed “two sharp instruments” to the man, Crown Prosecutor Aden Tranent said.
Sipi, wearing all black, demanded the glasses before the man moved away from the pair.
After he tried to remove himself from the situation, he had his backpack grabbed by Sipi but was able to retrieve it moments later.
Police searched Sipi’s home in June, 2024, and arrested him on July 11, nearly two months after the robbery.
Defence barrister Jack Kennedy told the court Sipi had not slept in four days at the time of the robbery, due to consuming large amounts of methamphetamine.
Mr Kennedy told Judge Ian Dearden that Sipi wanted to reunite with his son upon release.
Sipi pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and was sentenced to three years imprisonment, with a parole release date set at July 10, 2025 after already serving 225 days in custody.
Adam David Mitchell
Police found a cocktail of drugs in a labourer’s backpack when they stopped him for failing to wear a helmet while riding a scooter on the Fraser Coast.
Adam David Mitchell, 57, pleaded guilty in February, 2025 to three counts of possessing dangerous drugs, contravening a requirement and possessing drug utensils when he faced the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court.
The court heard on December 29, 2024, police were carrying out patrols in Urangan when they stopped Mitchell, who was riding a scooter with no helmet.
Mitchell allowed the officers to search the bag he was carrying.
They found a clip seal bag containing cannabis, a tin containing mixed tobacco and cannabis, glass pipes and a small clip seal bag containing meth.
In addition, a coloured strip of paper later identified to be LSD was also found.
Mitchell worked as a casual labourer doing tree lopping, the court was told. He had adult children but no dependants. Mitchell was fined a total of $1450.
Convictions were recorded.
Read more
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