Midwife who trafficked meth and marijuana to 20 customers avoids jail
A midwife who ran a meth business while working for Qld Health won’t spend a day in jail after the Supreme Court found it would be too hard on her kids.
A former Qld Health midwife has walked from court, avoiding spending Christmas in jail, despite being convicted of drug trafficking.
Kristy Lee Benson, 35, trafficked methamphetamines and marijuana between May 4, 2024 and June 15, 2024, the Supreme Court in Rockhampton heard.
At the time, she was working for the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service which suspended her after her illegal business, ran from her Gracemere home, was discovered.
Crown prosecutor Bianca Volling told the court Benson was a passenger in a car when it was stopped and searched on June 15, 2024 at Allenstown in the early hours.
She said a phone was seized along with drugs and other paraphernalia.
Benson had five grams of marijuana and 1.961 grams of meth in her possession inside a glasses case in her handbag, along with a glass pipe, straw, digital scales and empty clip-seal bags.
Justice Michael Copley said Benson denied knowledge of the meth and told police she didn’t know how the marijuana got in her handbag.
He said she refused to provide police access to her phone when requested at first, then gave the wrong pin-code after a court order was made.
Ms Volling said the phone revealed Benson’s repeated street level drug supplies of meth and marijuana during the trafficking period, to at least 20 customers and no fewer than 35 supplies.
She said of those 35 supplies, 28 were of meth between 0.1 gram and 3.5 grams.
There were seven marijuana supplies of between one and three grams.
Justice Copley said Benson had one main supplier for the meth plus two other suppliers, but the source for the marijuana was “unclear”.
Ms Volling said the arrangements for the supplies were detailed in text messages and the supplies were carried out at Benson’s Gracemere home.
Benson was employed at the time by CQHHS as a midwife and the primary carer for her two sons – one which has special needs.
Defence barrister Maree Willey provided multiple letters to the court, including from a psychologist, registered nurse, Benson’s mother and the principals of two schools her sons had attended.
She said her client had a disadvantageous dysfunctional upbringing and lived between her two parents’ homes in different towns.
Ms Willey said Benson had experienced “significant incidents” including one involving a car during her childhood.
She said her client found herself facing difficult stresses in 2024 and she was introduced to meth which led to her life unravelling.
The court heard Benson was stood down from her employment after she was busted for drug driving on March 30, 2024.
Ms Willey highlighted the “likely adverse effects” that would be on Benson’s children if she were to spend actual time in custody for this offence, pointing to the letters from the principals about the special education needs alone for one of her sons.
The court heard Benson now lived in the Hervey Bay region near her mother, who worked full time and was not in a position to care for the children.
She had no criminal record.
Benson pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking drugs, two of possessing drugs, one each of possessing drug utensils, possessing a thing used in the trafficking of drugs and contravening an order to provide access to electronically stored information.
Justice Copley sentenced her to three years prison with immediate parole release, stating the reasoning was of the detrimental impact on Benson’s son who has special needs.
More Coverage
Originally published as Midwife who trafficked meth and marijuana to 20 customers avoids jail
