- Transport worker found guilty of drug possession
- She became a meth addict after her husband went to prison
A transport worker became a chronic methamphetamine user after her husband was jailed for drug possession, a court has heard.
Kim Louise Parsons, 50, pleaded guilty in the Cairns Supreme Court on Monday to two charges of possession of a dangerous drug and one charge of possession of more than 2 grams.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads employee had 49.2 grams of methamphetamine, of which 38.26 grams was pure methamphetamine.
Prosecutor Rachel Boivin said the amount of drugs in Parsons’ possession would be valued at between $49,000 and $74,000 if sold at street value. Cairns Post reported.
On Monday, Kim Louise Parsons, 50, pleaded guilty to two charges of possession of a dangerous drug and one charge of more than 2 grams.
The court heard that Parsons had been honest with the Department of Transport and Main Roads and that she would keep her job unless she was sent to prison.
She became a regular meth user in her late 30s and by the time her husband was sent to prison in 2020 she was using the drug daily, the court heard.
She was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, with a parole date of October 16, 2023.
Parsons was also ordered to pay a $7,000 fine, to be served cumulatively, with a term of six months in prison, and to pay the fine no later than February 29, 2024.
The court heard that Parsons was persuaded to buy the meth, although she had not intended to buy that much.
There was no evidence she had bought the drugs to supply them, she had co-operated with police and undergone rehabilitation for her problematic drug use, the court heard.
The court heard that Parsons (left) became a daily meth user after her husband, Graham Edward Parsons (right), was sent to prison for drug possession
Her husband, Graham Edward Parsons, 57, was released on parole less than a month ago after his third drug conviction.
Mr Parsons, who had worked for Queensland Rail for 38 years, was convicted of trafficking marijuana between September 2014 and September 2016.
Police raided his bungalow in September 2016 and found 16.7kg of cannabis, quantities of methamphetamine, MDMA and other illegal substances, along with $50,000 cash.
The father-of-three lost his job as the oldest railway driver in the Far North and was sentenced to four years in prison with parole after a year.
A court heard at the time that he earned more than $120,000 from his salary and was likely to have profited up to $33,000 from cannabis sales between May 2015 and September 2016.
Mr Parsons was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in July 2022
In July 2022, Mr. Parsons was convicted of multiple drug possession charges, including 50 grams of methamphetamine, more than 500 grams of cannabis, as well as possession of kitchen utensils, pipes, weapons and nearly $15,000 suspected to be the proceeds of a crime.
Mr. Parsons was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on September 26, 2023, with parole eligibility.
He was caught just a month after his parole ended, serving a four-year prison sentence from 2017.