A former childcare worker who trafficked drugs via Snapchat has avoided returning to prison after being caught with a glass pipe and cannabis.
Rachel Louise Strong faced the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday charged with breaching her suspended sentence conditions.
Strong had previously received a suspended sentence of four years and six months in October 2022 after being convicted of drug trafficking.
Strong promoted and sold drugs via Snapchat in 2021 and accidentally added an undercover agent to her client list on the social media app.
When police later raided her Wynnum home in Brisbane, they found a grow room containing 17 cannabis plants.
Rachel Louise Strong (pictured) was sentenced to prison for drug trafficking
In October 2022, Strong pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, supplying and possessing cocaine and MDMA, manufacturing cannabis and possessing cannabis, cocaine, meth, MDMA, LSD and a Taser.
The court was told on Thursday that the breach of her suspended sentence came after she was found in possession of drugs and paraphernalia on October 14 and 19, 2023.
Strong was returned to custody on October 19 last year and these offenses were dealt with at the Magistrates Court. The court was told Strong was released on parole on March 15, 2024 for her minor drug offence.
Judge Peter Davis ruled that Strong’s parole for her suspended sentence for drug trafficking must begin again Thursday.
He ordered Strong released on parole starting Thursday so she would be supervised by the parole board while she serves the remainder of her suspended sentence.
Ms Strong faced the Brisbane Supreme Court (pictured) on Thursday charged with breaching her suspended sentence conditions
Judge Davis said Strong had “taken steps” towards rehabilitation and had been under a mental health plan during her time in prison since October 2023.
“If you continue to get involved with drugs, you will be in and out of jail and your life will be ruined,” Judge Davis said.
‘You have to realize that you can’t have anything to do with drugs, otherwise you will have a lot of trouble with the law.
‘It’s in your hands. “If someone like you is in a situation that clearly has a drug addiction, it is better that you monitor in the community rather than extend the operational period.”