Pop queen jailed on drug charges (Aus)

[Lunar Loops]

No, it's not Kylie, in fact the name of this particular pop-queen only seems vaguely familiar to SWIS, but perhaps our antipodean cousins could enlighten us further.

SWIS hates the way some people in the judiciary still link cannabis offences to those of heroin and some of the judge's statements in this case are incredibly ignorant to say the least.

The sentence seems rather severe, but SWIS supposes this is due to the fact that they had proof that she was supplying a known drug dealer. The actual grow operation was hardly on a grand scale (5 plants). SWIS wonders what the sentence would have been like if there was no proof of 'trafficking'? Also how on earth did they justify such surveillance for such a small operation?

Anyway, the article is from www.theaustralian.news.com.au :

Pop queen jailed on drug charges

June 01, 2007
FORMER Australian songbird Allison Durbin is tonight a jailbird after being sentenced to one year behind bars for drug trafficking.

The four-time Queen of Pop had her wings clipped after pleading guilty in the Victorian County Court to trafficking a drug of dependence.

Durbin - now known by her married name, Allison Giles - was busted in March 2004 when Melbourne police uncovered a hydroponic crop of five cannabis plants at the West Footscray home she shared with former road manager John Pigram.

The court heard Giles cultivated the drug for profit, supplying convicted drug dealer and father of kidnapped baby Montana, Giuseppe Dom Barbaro.

Giles, revealing a hint of her pop star past in a green leopard skin top, wept as Judge Ian Robertson sentenced her to 24 months' jail, with 12 months suspended for three years.

The sentence was the last chapter in her fall from grace, in which she spiralled into alcoholism, depression and heroin addiction.

Judge Robertson took these factors into account in sentencing but said Giles, who shot to stardom in the 1960s and 70s, should have known better.

As a rehabilitated heroin addict, the former star knew the harm and misery caused by the "insidious trade" of drug trafficking.

"You were clearly aware of the risk involved in drug trafficking, now you must accept the consequences," the judge said.

Apart from her guilty plea, Giles showed little remorse and little interest in the particularly young people in the community "whose tragic lives become consumed by drugs of dependence", he said.

"You have clearly had a most impressive career as an entertainer ... it's particularly sad to see such a talented person before this court on such serious charges.

"This court accepts that by reason of your public prominence as an entertainer you will face public humiliation by the media."

But that was the price of fame and Giles' crime was "deserving of stern punishment," Judge Robertson added.

The pop diva, who once recorded an album with music legend John Farnham, also pleaded guilty to cultivating a narcotic plant and theft of electricity.

Giles, who was taken into custody on Wednesday after pleading guilty to three charges, was fined a combined $2,000 on the two other charges.

The court heard a "corrupt electrician" was paid $1,000 for an electricity bypass to power a sophisticated hydroponic set-up at Giles' home.

She supplied Barbaro with up to up to 1kg of cannabis, according to the songbird's admissions.

Judge Robertson said the court had no means of determining exactly how much drugs passed between them, but the amounts were "not small" and the trafficking "not an isolated act".

The drug deals, which occurred between September 2003 and March 2004, were uncovered in police telephone intercepts.

Pigram, 59, and friend, Keith Maurice Sammons, 57, were both fined in 2005 for cannabis cultivation and theft of electricity.

Barbaro was jailed in August for at least five years on drugs charges.

Giles' defence counsel Scott Johns did not rule out an appeal, saying: "All options are being considered at this stage, it's up to her."

The court heard Giles suffered a financial blow when she tried unsuccessfully in the 1980s to revive her career, which contributed to her marriage breakdown.

The reclusive star also battled a heroin addiction.

[enquirewithin]

The judge is a pompous ass!