Senior Rokeby couple sentenced for ice trafficking enterprise after police drug bust at their home

A seventy-year-old ice dealer has been sent to jail, while his partner has narrowly avoided a stint behind bars for the same crime.

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A SEPTUAGENARIAN ice dealer has been sent to jail, while his partner has narrowly avoided a stint behind bars for the same crime.

Reginald Thomas Collins, who will turn 79 this week, and 59-year-old Catherine Fisher appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Monday after pleading guilty to trafficking meth.

Collins is a former Hydro Electric Commission worker who left his career after an ankle injury, while Fisher is a former Royal Australian Air Force recruit who left her career to become a full-time mother, then a full-time carer.

Chief Justice Alan Blow said the Rokeby couple had lived together for about three years, with Fisher assisting Collins in his ice-trafficking enterprise.

Reginald Thomas Collins is led from the court after sentencing.

Collins had become embroiled in selling the drug after getting roped in by a younger relative with drug and gambling problems.

Police searched the couple’s home in July 2019, finding a quantity of ice, cannabis, a smoking device and $13,080 in cash.

Catherine Fisher after receiving a suspended sentence.

Chief Justice Blow said Collins sold four to six bags of ice a week – selling the drug by the point and the half-point – but for a long time had sold to only one user.

He said blood samples were taken from the pair when their home was searched, with Collins returning a clean test but Fisher testing positive for both meth and cannabis.

She admitted she had been selling cannabis to three people for about 12 months and that the smoking device was hers.

“Ice is a terrible drug that ruins people’s lives. They get addicted very easily,” Chief Justice Blow said.

“Dealers who set out to make money by exploiting these people deserve to go to prison for very long periods.”

He jailed Collins for 22 months, with a non-parole period of 11 months. The judge also made an order forfeiting the $13,080 to the state.

Fisher received a five-month fully suspended sentence.

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