Jade Maree O’Neill trafficked meth in Toowoomba and supplied a dealer in Goondiwindi

The 32-year-old mother of two was detected through phone messages by police targeting another dealer in Toowoomba. Full details:

A 32-year-old mother of two who trafficked meth in Toowoomba and supplied the drug to a dealer in Goondiwindi has been jailed for four years.

Jade Maree O’Neill had trafficked meth at mainly street level for three and half months between May 17, 2020, and September 4, 2020, Toowoomba Supreme Court heard.

She was detected through phone messages by police targeting another dealer in Toowoomba, Nathan Lee Thompson, then 33, and a third dealer in Goondiwindi, Clayton Lindsay Mobbs, then 21, who O’Neill was in contact with, Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie told the court.

Police described the drug operation involving the trio as “persistent and intense”, Ms Petrie said.

Thompson had since been sentenced to eight years in jail after pleading guilty before the same court to trafficking while Mobbs was sentenced to three years in jail, but released on immediate parole, after he pleaded guilty in Toowoomba Supreme Court to trafficking in June last year.

Jade Maree O'Neill was jailed for four years after pleading guilty in Toowoomba Supreme Court on August 5, 2022, to trafficking meth.

O’Neill’s offending came to a halt when police searched her Newtown home on September 3, 2020, after securing a warrant to monitor her phone, the court heard.

O’Neill pleaded guilty to trafficking meth and to failing to provide her PIN for her phone on police direction when arrested.

Her barrister Wes Seewald told the court his client had two young children with whom she had shared custody of a daughter and sole custody of a three-year-old who would live with O’Neill’s mother while she was in jail.

His client had been trafficking in drugs mainly to support her own addiction, he said.

His client had no drug convictions until she was 28 but her drug use had escalated quickly, he said.

O’Neill had never been to jail before and upon release from prison she intended moving away from Toowoomba to live with her brother and make a fresh start, Mr Seewald said.

Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Wilson urged the defendant to turn her life around and care for her children.

Justice Elizabeth Wilson noted by reports O’Neill had started using drugs at 16 and heavier substances at 17 and had quickly built up a $6000 drub debt which had to be paid off by her parents.

Urging O’Neill to turn her life around, Justice Wilson sentenced her to four years in jail but ordered she be eligible to apply for release on parole as of August 5, 2021, after having served 12 months behind bars.