Behind bars: Katanning woman Annika Mary Warburton, 28, jailed for more than two years for meth dealing

A Katanning drug dealer who sold meth and cannabis to fund her own drug use has been sentenced to more than two years behind bars. Annika Mary Warburton, 28, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in the Perth District Court on August 8, after pleading guilty to charges of possession of methamphetamine and cannabis with intent to sell and supply. The court was told police executed a search warrant at Warburton’s Katanning home on March 25 last year, where they seized 23.91 grams of meth and 110g of cannabis. When police arrived at the property, Warburton handed an officer a tin that contained clipseal bags of meth, before asking to use the bathroom. Warburton was then strip searched by police, who found another clipseal bag containing 22.7g of methamphetamine. Police found four bags of cannabis in a bedroom cupboard and another bag on the kitchen bench. In the bathroom, they found drug paraphernalia, including smoking implements, unused clipseal bags and digital scales. State prosecutor Mathew Thompson said police found a “tick list” in her bedroom that suggested Warburton was “selling to at least six individuals in the community”. Mr Thompson said Warburton admitted during the search that the drugs were hers, but claimed they were for personal use only. Police also seized Warburton’s mobile phone during the search, which contained text messages “indicating the offender was selling prohibited drugs to others”, Mr Thompson said. Defence lawyer Zoe Gilders said although the amount of meth fell short of the trafficable threshold of 28g, it was a “significant amount”. “It’s accepted by her that it’s particularly significant in circumstances where she is living in a regional area,” she said. “Certainly in the context of what is a very small area, the capacity for that amount of methylamphetamine to do significant damage is something which is accepted.” Ms Gilders said Warburton had started as a meth user and “graduated to a user-dealer”, however it appeared she “wasn’t making a lot of, if any, additional money and it was simply to fund her own drug habit”. Warburton had bought more meth than usual before the search because it was her birthday in a couple of weeks, Ms Gilders said. “It was a situation where she had taken advantage of the availability of a larger amount being offered to her and has then proceeded to make that available to others within the community,” she said. Ms Gilders said Warburton was “not someone who would have classified herself as a drug dealer”. “She instructs that that’s the only occasion on which she had purchased an amount of this size and that it was purely opportunistic ... which she now accepts was a very poor choice to make,” she said. Ms Gilders said Warburton had indicated she was willing to participate in residential rehabilitation, but had been held back due to the unavailability of services in the community. Judge Troy Denise Sweeney said the contents of Warburton’s phone meant the case against her “was overwhelming”. “Just a few more grams (of meth) and you’d have been subject to a life term,” she said. The maximum penalty for possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell or supply is a fine of $100,000 and 25 years prison. Judge Sweeney said rather than “developing mature ways to deal with the setbacks of life” Warburton had “developed a pattern of resorting to drugs to avoid negative feelings like stress”. The judge acknowledged Warburton had been “reportedly making significant efforts” to tackle her drug use and there were “reasonable prospects of rehabilitation” in her future. However, she said she could not justify suspending the term. “All hope is certainly not lost,” she said. “There’s certainly time to make significant and lasting changes, and to pick yourself up from this.”