Amanda Dempsey pleads guilty to large commercial drug supply

A mum from Sydney’s west has told a court she “couldn’t believe” how easy it was to buy a common date rape drug from a popular online marketplace, at only a $100 per litre.

A mum from Sydney’s west who bought litres of a date rape drug online said she “couldn’t believe” how easy it was to access the substance, paying only a $100 per litre.

Lalor Park woman Amanda Gaye Dempsey, 47 appeared to Parramatta District Court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs.

During cross examination a tearful Dempsey explained how she was able to purchase litres of gamma-butyrolactone — an industrial chemical and precursor to date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid — from a marketplace website.

Once ingested by the human body, GBL — which is a common chemical present in cleaning solutions and nail polish — is converted into the date rape drug GHB or “liquid ecstasy”.

Some marketplace sites show numerous listings offering the chemical GBL

The liquid is listed online under “syntheses material intermediates” with the production description of “make chemistry simple with an organic intermediate purchase”.

Dempsey said she bought the drug — which comes as an odourless, colourless liquid — from the China based marketplace on three occasions where it was advertised as a cleaning agent.

“I was surprised how easy it could be bought and from how many sites, it’s cheap too you can get it for $100 a litre,” she said.

“I just went to [the site] and typed in ‘GBL’ and it came up with 30-40 sites where you can buy it, and have it delivered in three days if you buy a lot of it.”

The court heard that at the time of her offending, Dempsey was in the throes of active addiction and using the substance “24/7”.

A listing purported to be GBL online.

“There wasn't a moment I was awake and wasn't on GBL. you take it for partying, you have some and you’re very happy, you take too much and you pass out,” Dempsey said.

“It’s a horrible drug”.

The court also heard Dempsey was purchasing the drug for personal use and had bought it wholesale to avoid using drug dealers.

A defence solicitor appearing for Dempsey said her client’s poor mental health and substance abuse were significant contributing factors which reduced her moral culpability.

Dempsey told the court that she was committed to rehabilitation, describing her first time in custody as “a horrible eye opening experience”.

Dempsey will return to court for Judgement on July 2.