Tara Follett sentenced for Wellington drug syndicate role

A convicted drug dealer says she started doing admin tasks for her sister’s boyfriend’s syndicate because she wanted to make an ‘exit strategy’ for her sibling.

A disgraced Woolworths manager who helped her sister’s boyfriend run a regional NSW drug syndicate has been spared jail time.

Wellington woman Tara Elizabeth Follett pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity after police raided the home she shared with her mother in May 2020.

Woolworths manager Tara Follett has been convicted for her role in a drug syndicate. Picture: Facebook

The 36-year-old came to the attention of officers who formed Strike Force Pinnacle to investigate the activities of a drug syndicate which oversaw the transfer of ice, heroin and cocaine from Sydney to Wellington.

Secret phone taps, undercover witnesses and physical surveillance were used by police who infiltrated the syndicate led by Wellington man Kyle Thompson, who had enlisted the help of more than a dozen people including Follett, the sister of his partner Danielle.

Inside Follett’s home, court documents state police found notebooks, SIM cards and phones which revealed her role in the syndicate.

Contact details of syndicate members and lists of Thompson’s devices and passwords were contained in the items found at Follett’s home.

When police searched her phone they discovered she had been conducting Google searches for phrases and questions which included “being a drug dealers secretary”, “can I be arrested for doing admin tasks for a drug dealer?” and “what should drug dealers organise before going to jail?”.

Kyle Thompson has pleaded guilty to a string of charges. Picture: Facebook

According to court documents, Follett researched legal arrangements for members of the syndicate, how to set up trusts which drug money could be funnelled into for children and how to purchase property while keeping Centrelink payments.

She also managed and maintained Thompson’s social media accounts and use of encrypted communication applications.

When Follett got upset with the way Thompson treated her, the District Court at Dubbo heard she would wipe data and passwords which disrupted his running of the syndicate.

In court for Follett’s sentencing, defence lawyer David Hemsworth said Follett never directed any activities the criminal drug syndicate undertook.

He said Follett was not charged with supplying any drugs and there was no evidence she received any financial gain for her role in the syndicate.

The court heard that until the middle of 2019, Follett had been living in Canberra where she worked in marketing and advertising positions for the now defunct media company Fairfax at its Canberra Times newspaper office.

Danielle Follett is due to be sentenced on Wednesday. Picture: Facebook

Mr Hemsworth said after her stint in Canberra, Follett moved back to Wellington because she felt isolated while living away from her family’s hometown.

“When she moved back to Wellington she maintained some employment with Fairfax at the Daily Liberal,” Mr Hemsworth told the court.

“Once she was arrested, for obvious reasons, that stopped.”

After her arrest, Mr Hemsworth said Follett spent about a month in custody until she was granted Supreme Court bail and got a job at Woolworths in Wellington.

“She now has a managerial position there,” he said.

Crown lawyer Jesse Friend said Follett needed to be jailed because of the role she played in keeping the criminal group running.

“She was so integral to the operation of the group that when she stopped assisting, it disrupted their operations,” Mr Friend said.

“That degree of trust is not shown to someone outside the inner circle.

“The offender has gone out of her way to research contingency plans for when they all get to court. There’s a significant amount of planning and organisation which went into this offending.”

Dubbo District Court Judge Nanette Williams said Tara Follett was a trusted member of Kyle Thompson’s syndicate. Picture: Ryan Young

Mr Friend said Follett had been before the court previously after she was convicted and jailed in 2010 for supplying drugs in Wellington.

“Although she felt embarrassed and shamed then, she’s come back 10 years later and done exactly the same thing for exactly the same person,” he said.

“She knew what she was getting into … she prepared for what drug dealers should do before going to jail.”

Follett’s history of holding down jobs had no impact on her willingness to break the law, Mr Friend argued.

“Employment doesn’t stop her from offending,” he said.

“It doesn’t keep her mind busy, it may while she’s at work, however this offending still occurred while she was employed.”

Judge Nanette Williams said Follett was “part and parcel of the reason why Wellington has descended into this tragic little town” because of the impact of drugs.

“She wasn’t the principal, but certainly in my view, she had a trusted position in the organisation,” Judge Williams said.

In an interview with a forensic psychologist, Judge Williams said Follett claimed she got involved with Thompson again because her sister, Danielle Follett, was his partner and she wanted to help develop an “exit strategy” because of a belief Danielle needed help.

The court heard Follett never intended to help out with the running of Thompson’s group and she was an ex-ice addict who started using the drug at age 18 when construction workers who were building the Wellington jail brought it into the town.

Construction workers who built the Wellington jail were part of Tara Follett’s descent into drug addiction, the court heard.

Judge Williams said community safety was not simply achieved by jailing people like Follett and positive behavioural change was more likely to occur in the community.

“The offender has taken some very positive steps towards rehabilitation,” she said.

“To her great credit, she’s maintained stable employment and also got promotions at Woolworths.

“The progress she has made would, in my view, be lost if she were to be incarcerated.”

Follett was convicted and sentenced to a two-year term of imprisonment to be served in the form of an intensive corrections order (ICO) in the community.

Conditions of the ICO Follett must comply with include requirements to abide by an 8pm to 6.30am curfew for the first two months of the order, undertake 100 hours of community service work, abstain from illicit drug use, submit for random urine tests, seek drug rehabilitation and relapse prevention support and obtain a mental health treatment plan to address major depressive disorder and anxiety.

Multiple non-association orders were imposed which prevent Follett from lawfully associating with Kyle Thompson and other members of the drug syndicate, except for her sister Danielle Follett, mother Karon Horan and Mr Thompson’s sister Sharria Thompson.

Kyle Thompson has pleaded guilty to a string of charges including knowing directing the activities of a criminal group and supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drugs. He is yet to be sentenced and his case returns to court in March.

Various other members of his family have received convictions, including his sister Sharria, who was sentenced to an 18-month ICO for supplying drugs and participating in a criminal group.

Danielle Follett is due to be sentenced on December 22 after she pleaded guilty to drug supply and criminal group participation charges.

Karon Horan pleaded guilty to participating in a criminal group and she is due to be sentenced on Thursday.