Ex-nurse arrested with $28,000 worth of meth was ‘used’ in son’s drug scheme

A 61-year-old former nurse turned drug delivery driver has been given a suspended prison sentence after being caught with methylamphetamine hidden in her car.

Kaylene Ruth Howlett pleaded guilty to trafficking a controlled substance after being arrested by police with 27.6 grams of the drug in May 2023.

Supreme Court Justice Robert Pearce said Howlett, on the day in question, drove from her home in Pontville to her son’s girlfriend’s home in Gagebrook at around 3pm to collect the drugs.

She then hid the two snap bags containing 5g and 22.6g of methylamphetamine and left for a house in Claremont.

Judge Pearce said his son asked Howlett to deliver the drugs.

He said police were aware of the planned transmission of messages on a phone they had seized from another man.

During an interview with police, Howlett admitted that she had delivered and collected drugs on other occasions and that she knew that her son and his girlfriend were involved in the sale of illegal drugs.

The methylamphetamine she had in her possession on May 24 was worth between $7,000 and $28,000, depending on the quantities sold.

Judge Pearce said Howlett was trafficking methylamphetamine because she was transporting the drug, believing her son had sold it or intended to sell it.

In exchange for this and other deliveries, she was not paid but sometimes had gas in her car or money deposited into her TAB account.

The court heard Howlett had no criminal record apart from traffic offenses and was now retired after working as a registered nurse in the disability and aged care sectors.

Judge Pearce said methylamphetamine in particular causes great harm and is extremely detrimental to the health of users, often leading to violence and dishonesty.

“Traffickers, especially those motivated by financial gain, should expect severe penalties,” he said.

He acknowledged that Howlett’s role was limited and that she had acted at the direction of her son, perhaps out of “loyalty”.

“In a sense, you have also been exploited. He asked you to take a risk of detection that he was not prepared to take himself,” he said.

Judge Pearce sentenced Howlett to four months in prison, suspended for 18 months in total, and ordered him to pay drug testing costs of $7,683.