A mother who used the cover of an embrace to smuggle a prohibited drug into the Wellington jail has received a term of imprisonment to be served in the community.
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Dianne Jody Brittain, 52, took 4.79 grams of buprenorphine inside the correctional centre and gave it to her son, an inmate.
The Bidwill woman faced Dubbo Local Court and pleaded guilty to supplying more than a small quantity but less than indictable quantity of the drug.
Magistrate Paul Hayes sentenced Brittain to a six-month term of imprisonment, to be served by way of an Intensive Correction Order (ICO).
The court has no tolerance for people who take drugs into a prison.
- Magistrate Paul Hayes
Court documents show from about October 13 last year there were a number of calls made by the co-offender, Brittain’s son, to Brittain, prior to and after the offence.
The calls were recorded.
On October 22, Brittain visited the co-offender.
At the end of the visit the pair walked towards the exit door and embraced.
Correctional officers saw Brittain’s hand was in a fist as if she had something in her hand.
The pair walked towards the exit and again embraced.
Correctional officers saw something fall from Brittain’s hand into the hand of her son.
Brittain walked off to the exit. Her son was subsequently searched, he told officers the package was “bupe” and the matter was reported to police.
Brittain was charged in February.
On Wednesday, the court heard Brittain had completed Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT), a program for defendants with substance abuse problems to work on rehabilitation.
The Crown submitted an ICO might be an appropriate sentence and the defence made a similar submission.
The court heard Brittain’s use of illicit substances had started in her late twenties.
Since engaging with MERIT Brittain had become “acutely aware” of how damaging it was to bring drugs into a jail, her solicitor said.
It was the first time the 52-year-old had engaged with a service to address her drug use, and she had realised the problem she had, her solicitor said.
The magistrate said the court needed to place special emphasis on deterrence, not just to Brittain, but to the community.
“The court has no tolerance for people who take drugs into a prison,” Mr Hayes said.
As a condition of the six-month ICO, Brittain was ordered to attend the Centre for Addiction Medicine at Mount Druitt.
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