Emma Claire Jowsey, 38, sentenced for trafficking methamphetamines in Mackay

A Central Queensland court has heard how a mother trafficked “street level” methamphetamine from her home and ran the operation as a business. Full details here.

An out-of-work Central Queensland mother caught in the grip of methamphetamine addiction turned to trafficking the drug to support herself and her son.

Emma Claire Jowsey, 38, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court at Rockhampton on September 7 to 15 drug-related charges, the most serious being trafficking, and possessing methamphetamine in excess of 2g.

Jowsey appeared in court via video link from custody in south-east Queensland.

The court heard that on October 28, 2020, detectives from Mackay CIB executed a search warrant at Jowsey’s residence in South Mackay.

It was told that Jowsey trafficked in “street level” quantities of methamphetamine between October 5 and 29, 2020.

Emma Claire Jowsey.

Justice Graeme Crow said Jowsey used digital scales, clip-seal bags, and postage package slips to transport the drugs between her property and others.

He said Jowsey kept hand-written notes and tick sheets containing “names and monetary quantities of methamphetamine” to assist her with carrying out her trafficking business.

“Police located those tick lists, also the scales, clip-seal bags, post parcel bags and mobile phones during the search of your home,” Justice Crow said.

“Police also located a total of $4600, divided into five bundles, within a white pencil case.”

The Crown alleged all of that money was proceeds of the trafficking business and Jowsey pleaded guilty to the relevant charge.

The court heard that during the police search, Jowsey admitted to police that she was selling drugs “to make money for herself and her son to survive” as she had “fallen on hard times and hadn’t been working”.

Justice Crow said Jowsey had admitted to also giving cannabis to her friends.

“The Crown accepts, that but for your admissions, the prosecution would not have been able to establish the length of the trafficking period.”

The court heard that during the police search of Jowsey’s residence, officers found about 138g of cannabis and cannabis seeds.

They also found white substances, yellow substances and crystal substances which were all tested and confirmed as drugs.

The substances contained drugs including meth and synthetic cannabis.

Viagra tablets were also seized.

Emma Claire Jowsey.

Jowsey was released on bail but she committed further offences.

The court heard that while Jowsey was on bail, police saw a Holden Commodore with stolen and false number plates travelling on the Bruce Highway.

Jowsey was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle which was hers.

Police found 2.47g of cannabis in her handbag, 0.1g of cannabis in the boot of the vehicle, and 10 clip-seal bags containing 3.513g of pure meth in 4.851g of substance.

Other types of drugs were also found including heroine, as well as drug utensils.

After the search of the vehicle, Jowsey was charged with disqualified driving, attaching false plates, possessing property suspected of being stolen, possessing tainted property and breaching bail.

The court heard that Jowsey pleaded guilty to those charges in Mackay Magistrates Court on January 28 this year.

The Supreme Court heard that before Jowsey started trafficking, she had no criminal history, and her four-page traffic record included two drug-driving offences.

Justice Crow noted that Jowsey was “at the bottom of the (drug) supply chain” and her profits were used to pay for her own drugs and to support her and her son.

Jowsey was sentenced to three years’ jail with immediate release on parole, with Justice Crow noting that she had already spent 439 days in pre-sentence custody.  

Emma Claire Jowsey’s background, as submitted by her counsel

Jowsey was born in Mackay and raised by a single mother after her parents separated when she was very young.

She completed Year 10 at a local high school before leaving midway through Year 11 in order to work.

She has a good history of working hard, particularly in retail, having worked in a number of retail stores in Mackay for many, many years.

Jowsey was in a long-term de-facto relationship from the age of 18 to 31, and she has a son from that relationship.

In about 2015, the court heard, Jowsey’s then partner quit his job in the mines and started using methamphetamines.

Jowsey tried to stop him from using the drug but to no avail, and their relationship suffered due to her partner’s behaviour, the court heard.

During the relationship, Jowsey’s drinking became problematic to the point where she considered herself an alcoholic.

Jowsey ended the relationship and moved back in with her mother, from which time she stopped drinking.

She has been abstinent from alcohol since.

About a year after Jowsey’s relationship ended, she started a new relationship with another man.

During that second relationship, Jowsey was at “an extremely weak period” in her life.

The court heard her new partner was a heavy meth user and Jowsey started using the drug, becoming addicted.

Jowsey quit her job to drive her partner back and forth from Mackay to Airlie Beach for work because he didn’t have a licence.

The meth use affected Jowsey’s partner’s behaviour and their relationship suffered.

Jowsey left that relationship.

At the time of the police raid, Jowsey had been separated for four months, she was addicted to meth, and for the first time in her life she was not working.

She was also “isolated” from her friends and family because of her relationship with the second man.

Jowsey embarked on selling meth, at low street level quantities, to people who were already using the drug - people she had met through the second partner, the court heard.

The court was told that upon her release from prison, Jowsey had the support of family to assist her.

Originally published as Emma Claire Jowsey, 38, sentenced for trafficking methamphetamines in Mackay