Tiegan Hayes, of The Entrance, pleads guilty to drug supply
A court has heard how a young woman has turned her life around since becoming mixed up in a family drug syndicate.
Central Coast
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A young woman charged in connection to a family-run heroin ring on the Central Coast has pleaded guilty to supplying drugs, with the court hearing she has turned her life around.
Tiegan Hayes, 22, appeared at Wyong Local Court on Friday facing 19 charges in relation to supplying small amounts of cannabis between August and October 2018 at The Entrance, Long Jetty and Noraville.
Hayes, of The Entrance, was arrested in January as part of six simultaneous raids across the coast in connection with a family heroin syndicate. The raids resulted in the arrests of eight people, including Hayes for onselling small quantities of drugs.
Ms Hayes pleaded guilty to one count of supplying a prohibited drug — small and indictable quantity, 56.8g of cannabis, and admitted to a further 18 charges of supply which the court can consider at sentencing.
Ms Hayes’s defence indicated at the time of the offence, she didn’t have her drivers licence and was using cannabis.
The court was told she had a criminal record over a short period of time “consistent with drug use”.
“Since the offences she has engaged with a councillor … she remains drug free and is working on a shift basis seven days a week as a community worker. She’s taken all the steps one would hope one would … showing significant signs of rehabilitation. She is not associating with the people she was when the offence occurred.”
Ms Hayes’s defence indicated they would push for a community corrections order sentence with Magistrate Les Brennan indicating the charges were “serious” and home detention would be considered.
Police facts tendered to court state that Tuggerah Lakes Police set up Strike Force Footman in May 2018 in relation to the ongoing supply of street, mid-level quantities of drugs.
“The accused Tiegan Hayes was identified as a supplier of cannabis in The Entrance,” the facts state.
Police state Ms Hayes was supplied cannabis by a man, also charged in January 2019, and would onsell to customers. The man would deliver the drugs to a car wash where Ms Hayes worked in Long Jetty.
Police state surveillance and telephone intercepts led to the arrest, with Ms Hayes and the man using coded conversations “in an attempt to disguise their activities from investigating authorities” with words such as “stick”, “half bag”, ounce” and the term “come and see me” which is commonly used by drug users and suppliers.
Facts state that on August 30 2018, phone records reveal Ms Hayes telling the man “you can either give me a bag of weed okay and I will f**king sell it, okay and I will f**king make the money”.
“The total weight of cannabis supplied by (name removed) to the accused and then onsupplied was 596.4g for a financial gain of $5964 — $280 an ounce.”
A search of Ms Hayes bedroom uncovered plastic resealable bags of cannabis and digital scales. She told police, “It’s my weed, I smoke it”.
Ms Hayes will be sentenced At Wyong Local Court on December 2.