Woman in northwest Tasmania ice trafficking ring to testify in co-accused’s future trial

A Devonport woman who has avoided jail for her role in a meth trafficking ring says she fears for her safety from the man at the helm of the operation. Latest from court.

Northwest ice trafficker Danelle Barker was sentenced in Burnie this week.

A Devonport woman who has avoided jail for her role in a meth trafficking ring says she fears for her safety from the man at the helm of the operation.

Danelle Maree Murial Barker, now aged about 40, was due to be sentenced in 2021 after she pleaded guilty to trafficking methylamphetamine between December 2019 and May 2020.

At the time, Supreme Court acting judge David Porter agreed to defer her sentence so Barker, the mother of two children, could prove herself in a number of ways.

Those included that she would give evidence in the trial of a man referred to as “R”, on whose behalf she would arrange large deliveries of ice in ounces, for others to on-sell it.

Barker also promised to remain drug-free herself.

When Barker was first arrested, she explained that she effectively worked as an intermediary – doing what she called “running in between” – arranging sales and collecting drug debts so purchasers did not have to deal with drug suppliers.

She said R would give her ice as payment.

In total over her offending period, Barker dealt with about 22 ounces, or 623.9 grams, of ice – with a value between $214,000 and $281,000 – not including the drugs Barker sold herself.

This week, Justice Jago said in the two-and-a-half years since Barker’s sentence was deferred, the state of Tasmania had not been in a position to prosecute R for trafficking.

She said this wasn’t Barker’s fault, and that she apparently remained willing to give evidence against him at his trial, whenever that was reached.

As a result, she said she would proceed to sentence on the basis that the law recognised substantial discounts for co-operation and the giving of evidence against a co-accused.

Justice Jago said Barker’s rehabilitation had been more complex – that she’d returned to Devonport, continued drug use, and committed a number of offences including burglary and motor vehicle stealing.

However, she said Barker had been under a huge amount of anxiety and stress as a result of delay in the trafficking case, and that she believed her safety was at risk from R.

“I am told that at one point there was in existence a Facebook page which suggested that some form of vigilante justice be taken against the defendant because of her agreement to give evidence against R,” Justice Jago said.

“I accept that her concerns as to giving evidence against R, and the delay in her being able to finalise her involvement in this matter, have added additional stressors and complications, which would not have assisted her in terms of her being able to successfully address her addiction.”

Justice Jago gave Barker a suspended 15-month jail sentence, which she said would have been 21 months if she hadn’t agreed to give evidence against R.

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