Ice drug dealer Sharni Bryant jailed in Bendigo court

The dealer was caught as part of an investigation called Possum-2022 into methylamphetamine or ice trafficking in the Bendigo region which used physical surveillance and telecommunication interception.

She has now pleaded guilty to her crimes in the County Court.

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The 30-year-old woman, Sharni Anne Bryant, alongside two co-accused, were found to have transported and distributed commercial quantities of ice and 1,4-Butanediol between November 21, 2022, and January 23, 2023.

Bryant pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking a drug of dependence in a commercial quantity and three counts of possessing a drug of dependence - specifically methylamphetamine, 1,4 Butanediol and cannabis.

The court was told transactions by three people, including Bryant, related to the trafficking of 258.3 grams of methylamphetamine and 426 millilitres of 1,4-Butanediol.

Bryant also pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime - specifically $2000 in Australian currency and $1045 found in separate piles in a search of her Strathdale home.

The court heard members of the critical incident response team (CIRT) forced their way into that home - which Bryant was renting - on January 23, 2023, around 4.42am.

Since Bryant had lived at the Strathdale home, the court heard "neighbours observed a substantial increase in traffic movements throughout the court".

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When police entered Bryant and a co-accused were located in the doorway of the toilet trying to flush a clear zip-lock bag down the toilet. The bag contained a crystal-like substance.

Forty $50 notes were found in Bryant's handbag alongside a clear tube with a clear liquid - 1,4-Butanediol

Other drugs and more cash were found throughout the rest of the home.

Bryant and one of the co-accused were arrested, while another person escaped.

Though she has now pleaded guilty, Bryant initially denied her involvement.

She told police the cash she had at her home was from having just received a car insurance claim payment and also needing to pay for a roadworthy for a new vehicle.

"I'm gobsmacked that it's all been made out to be me," she said in her police interview.

"Maybe someone can message me and say, like, 'Are you able to get this?' and if I do have a friend that could get it for, like, has it, then I'll organise for 'em or something, but I'm not selling meth."

The court heard she is now in jail at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, and had "at least half a dozen relevant prior offences".

Her defence team told the court Bryant's offending was "driven by her own addiction".

Her childhood was recognised to be deprived although Judge Geoffrey Chettle said he felt the 'Bugmy defence' was being "misused" broadly across the court system.

Broadly that case related to "abject poverty", "degradation" and "intergenerational trauma" that he said was particularly relevant to some Aboriginal defendants.

The court did hear Bryant had experienced a difficult childhood including exposure to domestic violence and she was left highly "traumatised", at age 19, by her mother's death from breast cancer after a long period where Bryant had looked after her mother.

The court heard Bryant had said she had "wasted" the last 10 years of her life and had "clearly put herself on the police radar" - although her crimes were acknowledged to have fallen "towards the lower level" for that charge.

Judge Chettle also said he was "getting old and cynical" about the extent to which people wanted to "turn their life around".

Judge Chettle did say Bryant had been "evasive, untruthful and dishonest" in her initial dealings with police.

In total, Bryant was sentenced to five years and six months with a non-parole period of three years and nine months.

A pre-sentence detention of 283 days was recognised, excluding November 2 when she was sentenced.

Without a guilty plea, she would have faced six years non parole of a nine year sentence.

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