An Adelaide woman has been sentenced to three years' prison after being caught in Katherine trying to import meth into the NT.
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Helen Donnelly, 65, appeared in the Darwin Supreme Court last month where she was sentenced for one count of possessing a traffickable quantity of methamphetamine and one count of supplying a commercial quantity of methamphetamine.
Donnelly had driven to Katherine from Adelaide in October 2020 when police pulled her over and searched her car, finding a 2.83g bag of methamphetamine.
The court heard when Donnelly arrived in Katherine and saw police were searching vehicles, she pulled over onto the side of the road.
At some point, another bag of meth, weighing 125g, was moved from the car and put under a nearby tree. The bag, which was wrapped in a jumper at "a distance of eight to 15 metres" from where Donnelly was parked, was found by police a short time later.
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Donnelly pleaded not guilty to the charge of drug supply, but Justice John Burns told the court a jury found her guilty of the offence.
"It is clear from the jury's verdict that they were satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you were transporting that drug in order to provide it, to use a somewhat neutral term, to a third party," Justice Burns said.
"Whilst I do not know precisely what your role was with regard to how the drugs were going to be distributed ultimately, I am satisfied that your role in transporting it was for commercial gain."
He said the jury also found Donnelly removed the drugs from the car in an attempt to not be caught.
"The evidence before me does not permit me to say who moved that or in what precise circumstances it was moved, but it is very clear that the reason why the drug was moved from the car to the area under the tree was in order to try and secret it if police should stop and ask you what you were doing at that point."
Justice Burns told the court that Donnelly was addicted to methamphetamine at the time of her arrest, which contributed to her offending.
"That is a matter which is relevant to your prospects for rehabilitation, because if you address your methamphetamine addiction, then there is every reason to believe that you have reasonable to good prospects for rehabilitation," he said.
Donnelly was sentenced to three years' prison, and will be eligible for parole in December 2022.
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