Deanna Morris: Dubbo drug runner sentenced for ice crime

A Dubbo woman who drove a man to pick to up drugs from western Sydney every second day played dumb and pretended to not know what she was involved in.

A 26-year-old Dubbo woman who doubled as a drug runner has claimed she feared for her safety and felt forced to drive a man to western Sydney to repeatedly pick up the drug ice.

When she faced Dubbo Local Court for sentencing, Deanna Rose Morris was spared time behind bars because of her limited criminal record.

In court documents police said Morris was a p plate driver who came to their attention last year after multiple reports were made to Crime Stoppers about drug dealers in the Dubbo region.

Drug runner Deanna Morris takes a call as she leaves Dubbo Local Court. Picture: Ryan Young

Morris and a man she knew had been driving from Dubbo to Sydney every second day when police pounced, court documents stated,

On July 25, police stopped Morris and the man in their tracks at Geurie, a small village about 30 kilometres south east of Dubbo.

Police found 88.7 grams of methylamphetamine, also known as then drug ice, in the car.

Morris initially claimed she never knew it was there, but she later pleaded guilty to knowingly taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug after police found her fingerprints on bags full of drugs which were located in the car.

According to police, the drugs Morris was caught were worth an estimated $88,000 on the street.

Police said after Morris’s associate was given bail, she was the first person he called.

During the call, police said Morris was told to go into the bedroom of the man’s mother home and “get rid” of three packages.

After police listened to the call, the home was searched, where police had to call a locksmith to open a safe, where two bundles of cash were found inside.

Morris and another woman were later caught on CCTV at the South Dubbo Tavern, putting “a lot” of money through poker machines, police said.

“This is commonly known as ‘cleaning money’ by gambling it and pulling it out to make it appear as though large amounts of money were lawfully obtained,” police said in court documents.

Magistrate Gary Wilson said drugs were a factor in almost every case that came before Dubbo Local Court. Picture: Jedd Manning

In court, defence lawyer Kate Renehan said Morris had a “handful of matters” on her criminal record and felt pressured to drive her then partner to pick up the drugs.

“She didn’t feel like she had any other option other than to comply,” Ms Renehan said.

Magistrate Gary Wilson said Morris knew what she was doing was wrong, despite fearing for her safety.

“At the end of the day you still had a choice … you had full knowledge of what you were doing,” he said.

“Most of the crime in this town is fuelled by either drugs or alcohol, the last thing we need is more drugs in this town.”

Magistrate Wilson said if it was not for Morris’s relatively good record, she would have gone to jail.

Morris was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month intensive corrections order and ordered to undertake 150 hours of community service work.

Her co-accused remain before the courts.