A 41-year-old woman facing drug supply charges wept openly when it was announced she was receiving bail in Dubbo Local Court yesterday.
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Antoinette Margaret Grant was one of eight people charged in December last year after a four-month police operation resulted in the bust-up of a local cannabis ring.
Ms Grant, who had a number of family members present in the court yesterday, was among those charged with supplying a commercial quantity of the drug.
All eight members of the alleged ring appeared in Dubbo Local Court, with Ms Grant becoming just the second to be granted bail.
One of her co-accused, Susan Ellen Peachey, appeared in person in court yesterday while the other members - Marko Korpinen, Sharon Maxwell, Anthony Wayne Roach, Scott Wardale, Kylie Stockwell, Leanne Wilkinson and Ms Grant - all appeared via audiovisual link from various prisons.
The eight were charged in early December after months of police operations led to simultaneous raids across a number of Dubbo properties.
According to the police facts, 365 pounds of cannabis were distributed by Peachey and her partners throughout Dubbo last year, netting her approximately $2 million.
The raids came after four months of surveillance from Strikeforce Monkman, both phone and optical, on Peachey’s Gasnier Place home.
Police received Supreme Court permission to install listening devices and optical surveillance devices at Peachey’s house on Gasnier Place.
From there, they intercepted and listened in on mobile phone calls.
Ms Grant’s defence solicitor asked Magistrate Allan Moore to consider granting her client bail on the basis of her lengthy period of detention so far and her completion of several courses during her time in prison.
The application was opposed by the Department of Public Prosecution, with their representative telling the court Ms Grant was part of an “organised criminal syndicate of some planning”.
Magistrate Moore allowed Ms Grant bail due to the fact that the period of time she had already been detained, about five months, was possibly longer than the sentence she would receive if found guilty.
“It is apparent that Ms Grant may well have already served a greater sentence than that which a court would impose upon her if she is guilty,” Magistrate Moore said.
All eight members of the alleged syndicate had their matters adjourned until June 29.