A young Tasmanian mother who kept dealing methylamphetamine while on bail for similar offences has been jailed for 18 months, with the last 12 months to be suspended to give her a chance to beat her addiction.
Nicola Cherry, 24, was caught with more than 32 grams of ice worth about $22,000 and $1,350 in cash when police arrested her in October last year.
The Supreme Court heard she had been running what Justice Michael Brett described as a “continuous and regular” drug business.
Phone records showed Cherry negotiated sales from small amounts up to several grams, although the total quantity sold was “impossible to say”.
She had only recently finished serving five months in prison for trafficking ice worth more than $100,000 over six weeks in mid-2024.
Justice Brett said she was on bail for those charges when she resumed dealing.
“Your decision to continue trafficking after that was in breach of your bail obligations and by any standards represents a brazen defiance of the law,” Justice Brett said.
The court heard Cherry first used ice at 17 before becoming addicted again at 20 under the influence of a drug-using partner.
Her lawyer argued she was selling drugs to feed her own habit rather than for profit.
Her two children, aged one and three, are now being cared for by her sister while she serves time.
Justice Brett noted Cherry’s personal circumstances and early guilty plea but stressed the seriousness of ice trafficking.
“… Methylamphetamine is a highly addictive and damaging drug. Trafficking businesses such as yours facilitate its distribution throughout the Tasmanian community,” he said.
Cherry will serve six months in prison before being released on probation, subject to strict conditions including mandatory drug treatment, regular testing and 18 months of supervision.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of her cash and drug equipment.
