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A former Darwin council ranger, who used her job to scope out vacant properties for drug deliveries, has been sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court for the "careful and methodical" supply of dangerous drugs.
Key points:
- Kirsten Rose Strickland was seen by police collecting drugs from empty Darwin properties while driving a City of Darwin car
- She profited about $100,000 from the sale of various dangerous drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA
- Strickland has been sentenced to six years behind bars, after pleading guilty to three drug supply charges
Kirsten Rose Strickland, 41, worked for the City of Darwin when she organised for more than 100 parcels of drugs ordered on the dark web to be delivered to empty Darwin properties and Australia Post offices.
"The addresses were not randomly chosen by you, rather, you operated in a careful and methodical fashion," Justice Peter Barr said in sentencing.
"You identified unoccupied dwellings which were advertised for rent or for sale, to which you could have drugs delivered.
"You also acquainted yourself with Australia Post mail routes and the timing of postal deliveries."
Between June 2018 and January 2019, Strickland ordered 154 packages of drugs from 41 international vendors and had them delivered to 30 different Darwin properties, addressed to 74 different identities.
Photo:
Strickland pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying dangerous drugs. (Supplied: NT Police)
Apprehended by joint taskforce
The Northern Territory Supreme Court heard police located detailed maps of Darwin city, postal timetables and drug paraphernalia during a search of Strickland's Darwin CBD apartment.
In November 2018, after investigations by a joint taskforce of NT Police, Australian Border Force, Australian Federal Police and others, officers followed Strickland as she collected parcels from empty letterboxes around Darwin while driving a council vehicle and wearing her ranger uniform.
An empty package, containing traces of MDMA, was recovered in a bin outside the Darwin Council offices.
"At the time of your arrest on 16 November 2018, Australian Border Force and NT Police had identified and intercepted 32 consignments of drugs ordered by you addressed to non-existent recipients," Justice Barr said.
A further seven packages were delivered after Strickland had been taken into custody.
Strickland discovered ecstasy in 2018
The court heard Strickland had never used drugs until she "became deeply depressed" and began using ecstasy in January 2018 at the age of 40.
A mental health report indicated a link between Strickland's mental health issues and drug use, however, Justice Barr rejected any argument that it led to her supply of commercial quantities of drugs.
"Your depressive illness does not explain your venture into drug importation and commercial supply in what was a well-organised and methodical operation, both logistically and in terms of meticulous record keeping," Justice Barr said.
The court heard there was a "significant element of fraud and dishonesty" as well as Strickland's drug supply crimes.
Strickland profited about $100,000 from the sale of dangerous drugs over six months.
"You somehow convinced yourself at the time of offending that you were not a drug dealer and you were just ensuring high-quality drugs for yourself and your friends," said Justice Barr.
"However, rationalisations and excuses for criminal conduct are common."
Strickland pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying dangerous drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD and almost 50 times the commercial threshold of MDMA.
She was sentenced to six years in jail, with a four year and three-month non-parole period.
The 41-year-old is no longer an employee of the City of Darwin.
Topics: drug-offences, crime, law-crime-and-justice, drugs-and-substance-abuse, community-and-society, health, drug-use, darwin-0800, nt, australia