A TEENAGE mum-to-be wept as she was handcuffed after being told she would spend the next three months in prison for selling cannabis.
Due to give birth on August 28, Heather Sharp, 18, of Kooringal, was sentenced in Wagga Local Court on Monday after pleading guilty to one count of knowingly taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.
She was also sentenced on charges of break, enter and steal, disposing of stolen property and resisting police.
Late Monday afternoon, Sharp lodged an appeal against her sentence, claiming it was too severe.
She was released on bail pending the appeal being heard in the District Court in September.
Before then, she faced the prospect of giving birth in prison.
Sharp was one of two Wagga teenagers given jail sentences on Monday on charges laid by police as part the anti-drugs operation called Strike Force Calyx.
Kyle James Kjaer, 18, of Ashmont, was also jailed for three months after pleading guilty to three counts of knowingly taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.
Sharp sold 9.1 grams of cannabis to a police operative for $100 on May 15.
She also broke into a Tolland house on December 20 last year and stole a washing machine.
When she tried to sell the washing machine for $80 on a Wagga Facebook page the victim recognised the item and complained to police.
On March 28, Sharp reacted violently when placed under arrest by police called to a domestic argument.
Her solicitor, Elanor Thornton, told the court Sharp was now trying to turn her life around and was complying with directions from authorities in order to keep her expected baby. “She is in a situation where everything is on the line, not only her own life, but her involvement with her child,” Ms Thornton said.
Magistrate Erin Kennedy gave Sharp an aggregate head sentence of eight months, with three months’ non parole, saying there was no alternative to full-time custody.
Kjaer was also caught by Strike Force Calyx when he sold cannabis to undercover police in his home on three occasions.
He sold three grams of the drug for $50 on April 21, 1.5g for $30 on April 23 and three grams on May 20. His solicitor, Chris Murnane, said the cannabis supply was very small scale and what Kjaer needed was supervision by Community Corrections. He has already served 47 days of his sentence since his arrest.
