Rehabilitation sentences that will keep them in the community were today granted to two Dunedin women arrested for a significant commercial cannabis sales scheme.
In the High Court in Christchurch, Demelza Patricia Frances Fraser-O'Donnell, 21, was granted a community detention term that will include a stint in a drug rehab programme.
Amanda Lynne Waghorn, 31, got a home detention and community work sentence.
The pair pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for supply.
They were due to be sentenced in Dunedin District Court last Friday but the judge declined jurisdiction and sent them to the High Court.
Justice John Fogarty said Fraser-O'Donnell was stopped in a car north of Dunedin, on June 3, 2008, when police found three bags totalling 964g of high quality cannabis head, with a street value of at least $12,000.
Police said Waghorn then admitted she had arranged for the drug pick-up in Christchurch, intending to bring it south and sell most of it to make some cash. Justice Fogarty told Fraser-O'Donnell she was being treated "exceptionally" in the hope that she could be rehabilitated and live a productive life in the community. If she did not take full advantage of the drug rehab course, she would not be given a second chance.
Justice Fogarty told Waghorn: "There is a prospect you have learned from this, though I have some doubts. "You are 31 years old and it's time you left your life of criminal offending behind." He proposed that she be closely watched under home detention and any breaches of the sentence could mean her being sent straight to jail.
He imposed six months of home detention and 300 hours of community work with a recommendation that the work continue beyond the end of the home detention. She would have abide by special conditions including not using alcohol or drugs, and undergoing programmes, treatment, or counselling as required.
Prosecutor Kathy Bell said the Crown did not oppose the rehabilitative sentences, though there was concern about Waghorn's ability to do home detention.
