Brittany Mitchell faces Northern Territory Supreme Court on drug proceeds charge

She came to Darwin to start a new life but the Brisbane woman’s love affair with a NT drug dealer landed this high school drop-out in a world of trouble.

Briittany Mitchell’s offending was underpinned by a drug-dealing lover and an addiction to cannabis.

A young Territory high school drop-out’s love affair with a man who made at least $250k from illegal drugs has been warned to avoid her one-time lover if she is to lead a life free of crime.

Brittany Mitchell faced the Northern Territory Supreme Court on January 23, pleading guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime and breaching bail.

The 24-year-old former Brisbane local was jailed for 18 months after the court heard she deposited $5700 – “derived from drug sales” - into a bank account opened by her one-time partner using stolen identification documents.

The court heard Mitchell’s lover put $250,000 into the bank account from 2020 to 2021 and the money was the proceeds of selling dangerous drugs.

Mitchell used the account to pay for new tyres and a five-day stay at the Discovery Holiday Park in Winnellie.

The court heard Mitchell failed to complete Year 12 and had a history of drug use and mental health concerns.

She moved to Darwin from Brisbane in 2018 and started dating the drug dealer in mid-2021, becoming “somewhat emotionally reliant upon him”.

Justice John Burns said Mitchell – who was on bail at the time - made 78 calls to her lover in Darwin Correctional Centre, often speaking of her ongoing use of the drug cannabis.

Brittany Mitchell contacted her lover 78 times while he was in Darwin Correctional Centre.

He said these calls constituted a breach of her bail conditions.

“In assessing the objective seriousness of the offence of dealing with the proceeds of crime, I take into account that your involvement was limited to three occasions over a period of approximately one week in 2021,” Justice Burns said.

“ The total amount involved was not large, but the payments that you made out of the … account demonstrate that you had some control over the funds in that account.

“It is not suggested that you were a principal in the enterprise of the supply of dangerous drugs, but you knew that he was engaged in that supply of drugs for commercial gain, and you assisted him in that enterprise by banking cash from drug sales.

“In assessing the objective seriousness of the offence of breaching bail, I take into account that there were a large number of deliberate breaches of your conditions of bail over a period of many months. You treated your bail conditions with contempt.”

Justice Burns warned Mitchell about resuming the relationship, saying: “You need to very carefully consider whether that relationship is likely to put you in a position where you will come into contact with illicit drugs and people who use or supply illicit drugs.”

The court heard Mitchell had a clean criminal history before this set of offending.

Mitchell was sentenced to a maximum of 18 months in jail, immediately suspended for 18 months.