Hairdresser and mother-of-two Vanessa Lenard busted dealing meth from her garage

Police phone taps brought down the illegal drug ring of a hairdresser and mother-of-two been busted dealing meth out of her garage.

A hairdresser and mother-of-two has been busted dealing meth out of the garage of her home in Grasmere by police phone taps.

Vanessa Lenard, 46, appeared in Picton court on Thursday after pleading guilty to two counts of supplying methamphetamine on an ongoing basis and possessing two types of illegal drugs.

According to the police facts, the mother-of-two dealt methamphetamine from her home and garage in Grasmere throughout June and July last year.

The facts show police intercepted Lenard’s phone during a strike force investigation into the continuous supply of drugs throughout the Camden region. Through monitoring her calls, court documents show officers learned Lenard was using her phone to buy and sell illegal drugs, mainly meth.

Home hairdresser Vanessa Lenard had avoided jail after dealing ice out of her garage in Grasmere. Picture: Adelaide Lang

According to the facts, the police phone taps revealed Lenard had a regular customer base of known associates who would either come to her house to collect the drugs or arrange for a delivery to their home or business.

Over the two months, police facts show Lenard supplied 19.53 grams of meth in 29 separate transactions.

When she was arrested on the morning of July 28, police facts show officers discovered a 30ml bottle of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (commonly known as date-rape drug GHB) in her handbag, as well as a small bag with 0.23 grams of meth in her wallet and another baggie containing 0.04 grams of meth beside her bed.

Despite telling police she didn’t have a phone, police uncovered a mobile in Lenard’s handbag.

During their raid of the hairdresser’s house, court documents show police identified the garage as the area used for supplying and using drugs.

According to the facts, they found drug paraphernalia including scales for measuring the drugs, ice pipes, and plastic bags previously identified as those used by Lenard. Police also uncovered two containers of cutting agents which are mixed with the illegal drugs to increase the weight.

Court documents show Lenard admitted she was dealing drugs in order to support her own drug and gambling addictions. The documents reveal she had a daily drug habit and was financially vulnerable after being forced to close her hairdressing salon by her former partner.

Mother-of-two Vanessa Lenard was supported in court by her parents. Picture: Adelaide Lang

According to a psychologist’s report tendered to the court, Lenard suffered from “battered woman’s syndrome” after being in an abusive relationship in which her partner controlled and humiliated her.

The court heard the two months she spent in custody after being arrested were a “wake up call” which Lenard was grateful to receive. She then committed to two sequential residential rehabilitation programs, which Magistrate Mark Douglass said was a positive sign of her commitment to turning her life around.

“The community will be better off if you are allowed to continue your rehabilitation in its current form,” he said.

He sentenced Lenard to a two year intensive corrections order and ordered her to focus on rehabilitation, abstain from drugs, and submit to random drug testing when directed.