Manly Local Court: ‘Dial-a-dealer’ mum convicted after selling drugs in Manly with children in back seat

A “dial-a-dealer” mum put her children in danger when she travelled from western Sydney to the northern beaches to sell cocaine out of her car, a magistrate has said.

The drug dealer, whose face has been blurred for legal reasons, outside court on a previous occasion. Picture: Manly Daily

A magistrate has slammed the “unbelievable” actions of a western Sydney dial-a-dealer, who travelled to the northern beaches to “spread misery” by dealing drugs with her kids in the car.

The single mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was so desperate to earn money to feed her family, she sold cocaine out of the vehicle while her three small children — including a breastfed baby — sitting in the back seat.

She was also found with bags of ecstasy and ketamine when she was arrested on a Saturday night in Manly.

While she was selling the cocaine for $300 a bag, her take was just $40, Manly Local Court heard on Wednesday.

The woman’s solicitor told the court the children’s father was not providing money to care for the family.

The woman outside court on the day she pleaded guilty. Picture: Many Daily

He said his unemployed client, who was in her early 20s and had no previous criminal convictions, had been persuaded to sell drugs to ease her “financial difficulties”.

“She was preyed upon by others.”

But magistrate Lisa Stapleton said while the woman believed selling drugs “was an easy way to make money” to help her kids, she had been “driving over to Manly to spread the misery of drug dependence” among the northern beaches community.

Ms Stapleton, who described the woman as a “street runner” for a drug network, said she was a “person of no criminal experience and totally naive”.

“But she knew she was spreading harm,” she said.

The woman was persuaded to “make easy money” by selling drugs, Manly Court was told. File picture: The Northern Star

Ms Stapleton said the woman had put her children in danger by allowing them to be present during drug deals and by exposing them to harmful chemicals.

She said one of the children could have ripped open a bag of drugs and put the contents into another child’s mouth.

“It’s unbelievable,” Ms Stapleton said.

“I don't think I've seen anything like it.”

The court heard the woman’s Toyota Aurion was pulled over near Manly Wharf just moments after police saw her sell a bag of drugs to a female customer in Victoria Pde.

Shocked officers found her three children, all aged under three — and one just nine months old — in the back seat.

The woman pleaded guilty to supplying a prohibited drug, dealing with property that was the proceeds of crime, and three counts of deemed drug supply.

Police outlined, in a fact sheet tendered to court, that officers saw her Toyota reverse into a driveway in Victoria Pde just before a female customer, speaking on a mobile phone, got into the front passenger seat.

Officers saw the customer leave the car between five and 10 seconds later and walk towards Manly Wharf.

The dealer told police she had just sold a small bag of cocaine for $300.

A search of her car revealed found five small plastic bags of cocaine, four bags of MDMA, which is also known as ecstasy, and three bags of ketamine contained in a purse located in the centre console.

The purse also contained $600 in cash.

Ms Stapleton convicted the woman and handed her a community correction order, requiring her to be of good behaviour for two years.

She must also complete 200 hours of community service.