A Parkes woman who was working for Western NSW Health as a mental health consumer consultant was sentenced to jail when she appeared in Penrith District Court on Tuesday, December 12.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Penelope Karen Sense, 46, of Thomas Tom Crescent was before Judge Stephen Hanley for sentence after pleading guilty to multiple counts of supplying a prohibited drug and one count of possessing a prohibited drug when she appeared in Parkes Local Court earlier this year.
All charges involve the drug methylamphetamine – commonly known as ice.
Sense was sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail for her supply matters, to commence on December 6, 2017, with a non-parole period of 18 months.
Judge Hanley convicted Sense of her possess prohibited drug charge but imposed no penalty.
He said in the court she was trafficking the drug to a substantial degree and it was not an isolated offence.
He also rejected submissions that she was “stockpiling for Christmas for herself and close personal friends”.
“I accept that to some degree it was to support her habits, however all evidence points to it being also for financial gain,” Judge Hanley said.
“I’m satisfied she is above the degree of street level – overall the objective seriousness fell just below the middle but well above the bottom.”
Judge Hanley did take into account Sense’s guilty plea, made in August, but rejected she had “shown any remorse”.
He said she had significantly impacted the community by selling ice.
According to the facts tendered in court, Sense was charged as the result of a police strike force set up in October 2016 to investigate the supply of ice in Parkes.
Strike force investigators used covert means to gather evidence during which they obtained recordings of conversations.
“I’ve worked my entire life – I’ve only been indulging in this for – you know, as long as I’ve known you – and I’m still not a (expletive) millionaire… and I’ve had a (expletive) good time over the last year 12 months but – and people think I’ve got thousands and thousands of dollars,” police recorded Sense saying as part of a deal which involved her exchanging $8800 for 54.6 grams of ice in Penrith.
During the recorded conversation, which took place on November 11, 2016, Sense spoke with a woman referred to as Steph and organised a meeting in the car park of the Penrith Panthers Leagues Club for Sunday, November 13.
Police say at the meeting Sense and Steph went from the car park to a room at the Mercure Hotel were Sense purchased the ice from Steph.
The following day police stopped the vehicle Sense was travelling in with three other people about 5.55pm at Lucknow near Orange and conducted a search, which uncovered the 54.6 grams of ice as well as a pipe for smoking ice and another small amount of ice (.19grams).
The 54.6 grams was found in a small box located under the driver’s seat of Sense’s vehicle.
All adult occupants of the vehicle denied knowledge of the 54.6 grams of ice located but Sense did admit to owning the .19 grams of ice and the pipe, stating she used on weekends.
Sense was subsequently arrested and charged at her home in Parkes on November 30.
