ONE of the ringleaders of an alleged Gunnedah drug supply operation has pleaded guilty in Tamworth Local Court.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Peter Lennan pleaded guilty to taking part in the supply of an indictable quantity of illicit drugs, on Wednesday.
DPP solicitor Cat McKay withdrew a charge of supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis.
Further charges of using an unregistered vehicle; using a vehicle in contravention of a major defect notice and a serious indictable offence of receiving the property of theft will be returned to the police prosecutor and dealt with in Gunnedah.
Defence solicitor Yvonne Phillipos said the matter would go to the district court for arraignment once a final paragraph in the police facts was agreed.
"On one count I am instructed to enter a plea of guilty and have it committed to the district court for arraignment," she said.
Lennan's matters will return for sentence committal in April.
Co-accused Rikki May Stranlund and Steven Mark Herbert appeared in court the same day.
On one count I am instructed to enter a plea of guilty and have it committed to the district court for arraignment.
- Yvonne Phillipos
In Herbert's case the prosecution and defence made a joint application to adjourn the matter until later in April while the police facts are finalised.
Defence solicitor Gary Johnston appeared on behalf of Stranlund and said there was an issue with the police facts that needed to be resolved in his client's case.
Stranlund will return to court in April for a committal mention. Magistrate Julie Soars continued bail for Stranlund and Herbert.
Lennan was arrested during a police raid on a Baker Street property in Gunnedah on February 28, last year.
Read also:
Strike Force Munderrah, a covert police operation by Oxley detectives, alleges Lennan was the head of the criminal group.
Police allege the case against Stranlund and Lennan involved multiple drug transactions in August and September.
It's the police case that methylamphetamine was sourced from the Upper Hunter to return to Gunnedah to on-sell.