Meth dealer Sophie Sweetland sentenced in Gladstone court

A young woman living in the Gladstone region was busted dealing meth with a court hearing that she was “well entrenched in the drug scene”. See how police found out she was a dealer.

Sophie Clare Sweetland.

Police had 24-year-old Sophie Clare Sweetland and her boyfriend on their radar, a court heard.

And then on the afternoon of April 18 last year, officers executed a search warrant at the young mother’s Buchanen Street home at Boyne Island in the Gladstone region, that would turn her life upside down.

Police found a water pipe that smelt of burnt cannabis, but the court heard there was something more sinister lying in wait.

The warrant included a condition to provide access to electronic devices, but Sweetland claimed she didn’t know the passcode to her phone and resisted providing it.

Eventually when police charged Sweetland and issued her with a notice to appear in court, she provided them with the passcode.

That allowed police to examine her phone and what they found was evidence indicating Sweetland was a drug dealer.

The court heard police saw that on January 25, Sweetland told a customer that her boyfriend, allegedly, “could do a half ball if you need”.

There was then a discussion between Sweetland and the customer which led to her supplying 1.75g of methamphetamine to that person for an unknown price.

It was not heard in court whether or not Sweetland’s former boyfriend had been charged with any offences.

Police also saw that on February 8, Sweetland did things in preparation for selling a “half ball” for $750.

In the District Court at Gladstone on February 27, Sweetland, now 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying methamphetamine, possessing drug utensils, and contravening an order (in relation to her phone).

The Crown said there was a relevant entry on Sweetland’s criminal history – in August, 2020, in Gladstone Magistrates Court she was dealt with for possessing cannabis (0.2g) and MDMA (3 tablets) and she did not have a conviction recorded.

In relation to the District Court matters, the Crown said Sweetland’s meth supply offences were “commercial and business-like”.

“It indicates perhaps, that she’s well entrenched in the drug scene,” the Crown prosecutor said.

Barrister Jordan Ahlstrand said Sweetland had disassociated with the boyfriend she was with at the time of this offending, and was receiving a Centrelink benefit as the mother of a 16-month old child.

Mr Ahlstrand said the former couple’s relationship had been “characterised” by alleged illicit drug use as well as other challenges for Sweetland.

Mr Ahlstrand said Sweetland’s parents lived in Victoria and were unable to attend the Gladstone court proceedings due to health reasons, despite a desire to be there in support of their daughter.

“They’re very concerned about her predicament,” the barrister said.

Mr Ahlstrand said Sweetland came from “a very good family” and her two siblings were both employed and neither had criminal histories.

Judge Craig Chowdhury said amphetamine was a “really nasty, dangerous drug” and “one of the worst inventions of mankind”.

“In this day and age, it causes untold misery in our society,” Judge Chowdhury said.

“It just wrecks people’s lives.”

In reference to Sweetland’s offending, Judge Chowdhury said: “Police obviously had information that you and your former boyfriend were involved in illegal drugs.”

Judge Chowdhury noted Sweetland had been in “an awful” relationship with her former boyfriend.

He sentenced Sweetland to nine months’ jail with immediate parole.

Originally published as Meth dealer Sophie Sweetland sentenced in Gladstone court