Mother of six jailed for meth possession [1]
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - 19:39
By Linny Folau
‘Emeline Haisila (43) was sentenced today to two-years and three-months imprisonment for possession of 2.43 grams of methamphetamines and utensils.
Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC sentenced her on the two counts, after she pleaded guilty in April at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa.
The offending was on 5 August 2021 after Police received information that the defendant was selling drugs from her residence at Ha'akame.
Police conducted a search of the premises and the defendant and found three packs of methamphetamine, a total of 766 empty dealer packs, a test tube containing fragments of methamphetamine, notebooks of suspected records of drug purchases and supplies, two weighing scales, two straws and $150 in cash.
The methamphetamines were later tested and confirmed as such and weighed a total of 2.43 grams.
The defendant volunteered that the drugs belonged to her and that she used them "for work".
The Lord Chief Justice said, in relation to the offending, the defendant told the probation office that the drugs were not for commercial use but rather for her personal use as they "enable her to do more work''.
Her partner also confirmed that she used methamphetamines so that she "could stay up 2 to 3 nights without sleeping and could complete all weaving required."
The court heard that the defendant was married with four children ranging from 16 to 22-years old. She and her then husband also struggled to provide for their family. For that reason, her husband travelled to New Zealand, in the hopes of finding better opportunities, that would help their family.
However, once in New Zealand, her husband did not keep in touch and left her to raise and care for their children alone with the help of her parents.
She then went on to live in a de facto relationship, from which she has two other children. She told the probation office that she makes money by weaving mats.
The probation officer reported that the defendant had not showed any remorse nor regret for her repeat offending and recommended a partial suspension on conditions.
She also committed the current offending during a six-months suspended sentence for a previous drug offence.
Supply
Lord Chief Justice Whitten said that the amount of methamphetamines alone, on a charge of possession, the comparable sentences of this Court suggest a primary starting point of 2 to 2 and a half-years imprisonment.
However, s 4(2)(b) of the Act now (since 8 December 2020) deems possession of 0.25 grams or more of a Class A drug to be supplying.
“The other utensils and drug related paraphernalia found at the defendant's residence are clearly consistent with a commercial operation. Therefore, and even if it was legally relevant, I do not accept the defendant's assertion that the drugs found were only for her personal use,” he said.
The possession (deemed supply) of methamphetamines and sentenced to two-years and three-months imprisonment.
In addition, he activated her six-months suspended sentence added to the current sentence to make a total of two-years and nine-months imprisonment.
The final nine-months was then suspended for one-year on conditions.
She is now serving two-years in prison.
The court ordered that failure to comply with any of the above conditions may result in the suspension being rescinded and the defendant being required to serve the balance of her prison term.