Central Coast drug ring: Susan Wakeling jailed over supply charges
A mother of four from Long Jetty has just over two months left behind bars for her role in a Central Coast drug ring, after appealing the severity of her original sentence.
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An unemployed mother-of-four from Long Jetty who was part of a Central Coast drug ring will be eligible for parole in September.
Susan Margaret Wakeling appealed the severity of her sentence in Gosford District Court this week with her non parole period slashed by almost three months.
The 38-year-old was convicted of supplying prohibited drugs, including cannabis and methamphetamine, along with participating in a criminal group, between April and June 2019.
Eight other people were also charged over their involvement in what police described as an “ice ring” which used Coles bags to transport drugs. The ring was dismantled by NSW Police’s Strike Force Lamprey, which had been investigating the group for months in the lead up to their arrests in September 2019.
Wakeling was originally sentenced to 18 months jail at Wyong Local Court with a non parole period of 11 months and 21 days.
Judge Tanya Bright upheld the severity appeal on Monday, reducing the non parole period to nine months.
Facts tendered to the court state that Wakeling was pulled over by police driving on The Entrance Rd on June 27 2019 after they noticed her driving too close to another car at a slow speed.
She initially told them she had a migraine and was driving to have a break from her children.
The car smelt of cannabis so a search was carried out starting with Wakeling’s handbag with wallets inside containing a large sum of money along with four resealable bags with white powder which was later identified as 1.34g of methamphetamine.
She told police, “that’s mine, you’ll find some more stuff in the back”.
A search of the back uncovered bags with cannabis and Wakeling said “you may as well grab that bag. It has a pound of marijuana in it”.
Inside a Coles bag they found a vacuum sealed bag with cannabis, bringing the total amount of cannabis found in the car to 445.3g.
The facts stated that on top of the vehicle search, Strike Force Lamprey had been intercepting phone calls between Wakeling and others involved in the drug ring.
Wakeling had no prior criminal history before 2019. She will be eligible for parole on September 30.