Revealed: Mums with meth who face court across South Australia for their wild crimes
Meth is rife across all walks of society with Adelaide ranked as the ice capital of Australia. These SA mums faced court after being seduced by the appallingly addictive drug.
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Adelaide was ranked as the methylamphetamine capital of Australia in March this year, according to the latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program.
One regional town recorded the highest per capita consumption of the drug anywhere in the country, according to the report by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
Methamphetamine is an insidious drug that has led many on a downward spiral. From dealing drugs, stealing fuel and driving with their young kids while high. These were just some of the shocking crimes committed by mums with meth.
Monique Jane Mitchell
This P-plater lost her job at a dairy farm after she was caught drug driving with an eight-year-old child in the car, a court has heard.
This is the second time Monique Jane Mitchell, 26, has faced drug driving charges — with the P-plater previously receiving a six-month loss of licence in 2019.
Mitchell was pulled over by police on Tuesday, November 29 at around 2.30pm along Penola Rd and testing positive to methamphetamine.
A police prosecutor told the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court Mitchell admitted to the drug use — telling officers she had consumed MDMA tablets over the weekend.
Mitchell was unrepresented when she pleaded guilty to driving with methamphetamine with a child under 16 present and contravening a condition of a provisional licence.
The Mount Gambier woman was handed a 12-month loss of licence and given a $1100 fine with a conviction recorded.
Vanessa Mountstephen
This meth dealer has been told she’s on the edge of going to jail after she provided fake urine to a drug test and kept using while pregnant, a court heard.
Vanessa Mountstephen, 36, was given another chance to prove herself and be drug free for her new baby, which the court heard tested positive to amphetamines at birth.
Judge Rauf Soulio sentenced Mountstephen for drug trafficking in June last year to two years and four months jail, with a non-parole period of one year and three months — which was suspended on an 18-month good behaviour bond.
During a police stop in March 2020, police found 7.84g of meth, valued at up to $3,900 as well as Facebook messages revealing Mountstephen had been selling drugs.
Mountstephen pleaded guilty to breaching her suspended sentence bond.
Despite prosecution pushing for a jail term, Judge Soulio gave Mountstephen a chance to continue rehabilitation and imposed drug testing, supervision and psychological treatment conditions.
In April the District Court heard Mountstephen breached the suspended sentence bond multiple times by returning positive drugs tests and returned positive drugs tests at least once a month between September and February.
Mountstephen, of Murray Bridge East, gave birth in March with the baby testing positive to amphetamines at birth.
The child was removed from her care.
Due to Mountstephen’s stable housing and family support, Judge Telfer said she was prepared to excuse the breaches and extended the bond by a further 10 months.
Emma Kate Wass
This meth addict, who has quit drugs since falling pregnant, has narrowly escaped spending time behind bars for her repeated driving offences, a court has heard.
Emma Kate Wass, 26, left a Glenburnie service station high and dry after she fled without paying for her fuel and blitzed past police with a defective car four months after being handed a suspended sentence for driving offences.
Several weeks later police spotted Wass in another uninsured car — that burst into flames when she tried to flee police.
On March 18, Wass had filled up a Holden Sedan with $109 worth of fuel but left without paying despite having the money.
On April 29 Wass blew past police at 145 km/h along the Princes Highway at Tantanoola in an uninsured vehicle with false number plates.
When police caught up with Wass, just under five kilometres away — she was travelling just 55km/h, due to mechanical failure and continued to drive for 1.5 kilometres while smoke and flames billowed out of the vehicle, the court heard.
Wass had pleaded guilty to a string of offences including failure to stop for police, making off without payment, driving while disqualified, driving an uninsured vehicle and driving with methamphetamine in her oral fluid.
Wass has now faced three separate drug driving charges in five years and it is the fourth time she has been caught driving while disqualified.
With a six-month suspended sentence hanging over the woman’s head, Ms Kossiavelous said she wanted to avoid jailing Wass, who was now “heavily pregnant”.
The woman was sentenced to two months and 24 days of imprisonment, which was ordered to be served on home detention.
Rebecca Lee Jacob
Meth mum Rebecca Lee Jacob dodged jail after she filmed a friend allegedly punching a woman in the face in a popular retail store over an alleged debt, a court has heard.
She was also caught drug driving on October 18, 2022, with police finding cannabis, methamphetamine and MDMA in her system.
Jacob, 38, spotted the victim in the Mount Gambier Kmart on December 8, 2022, telling a friend “is that (the victim)?”, a court has heard. Jacob pleaded guilty to driving with a combination of drugs and engaging in humiliating or degrading filming.
Though police were assisted in their investigation of the assault by the video captured by Jacob, police prosecution said it was not her “intent” to assist police.
Speaking in her own defence Jacob told the court she was currently on a waiting list to seek treatment for her drug addiction.
Breaking down in tears, Jacob told Ms Kossiavelos “there’s lots of things I could say, but I don’t want to give a sob story”.
Jacob was handed the minimum six-month driving disqualification and fined $900 for her drug driving charges.
She was also released with conviction on a $200 12-month good behaviour bond for engaging in humiliating or degrading filming.
Sarah Janes Hayes
Meth dealing mum Sarah Janes Hayes was slammed by a judge for her “disorganised and chaotic” lifestyle and for not being a good mother when she was high on drugs all the time.
The court heard Hayes was a single mother to a nine-year-old daughter.
Judge Muscat asked how trafficking and using drugs over an extended period was assisting her daughter.
Hayes, of Valley View, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking, arising from incidents in January and March 2019.
Judge Muscat said even though Hayes “probably doesn’t deserve it” he’d give her another chance to attend drug and alcohol counselling and demonstrate she’s not using drugs.
Judge Muscat heavily rebuked Hayes for her conduct and said “she wasn’t being a very good mother if she was always high on meth and then selling meth”.
“Driving disqualified — driving with meth in her oral fluid — driving dangerously to engage in a police pursuit … that’s shocking conduct,” he said.
“If you stuff up, then you can expect to end up serving the sentence of imprisonment,” he said.
“Don’t disappoint me and don’t let down your daughter.”
The charges were adjourned until September.
Sonia Kay Doeuk
A mother faces immediate jail after she became hooked on meth and became a serial drug dealer.
Sonia Kay Doeuk’s illegal hustle was exposed after $50,000 of suspected drug sales were transferred into her bank accounts.
Timisha Ward, for the prosecution, pushed for immediate jail for Doeuk in the District Court saying she was running a relatively sophisticated and ongoing commercial enterprise.
“The trafficking offending was repeated twice while Ms Doeuk was on bail for the earlier trafficking offending,” she said.
Approximately $50,000 from suspected drug sales was transferred into Doeuk’s bank accounts between April and December 2019.
The court heard close to $4000 was found during the three searches of Doeuk’s home, along with 26g of methamphetamine valued up to $7800.
MDMA, marijuana, methamphetamine, various mobile phones and tick lists as well as other drug-dealing indicators during other searches.
Doeuk, 44, pleaded guilty to six counts of drug trafficking and one count of possessing a controlled drug.
She was sentenced to $800, 18-month good behaviour bond in November 2021 after being caught with prescription drugs and other people’s identification and bank cards.
During sentencing submissions, the court heard Doeuk’s life spiralled when her partner died by suicide in 2017. With the mother-of-four and former cafe owner introduced to drugs — where she began taking methamphetamine.
On Tuesday, Judge Rauf Soulio adjourned Doeuk’s charges until July, where her lawyer will make submissions.
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