Temgesics sold to officer

Press, 12 April 1989, Page 29

Temgesics sold to officer

A person who sold five temgesic tablets to an undercover officer, whom she thought was a friend, was sentenced to six months periodic detention by Mr Justice Tipping in the High Court yesterday. Michalle Niki Sonntag, aged 31, unemployed, pleaded guilty in the District Court, to five charges of selling a class C drug. For Sonntag, Miss Jane Farish said that her client was merely a party to the offences which were committed by two others. At the time the accused was a drug user and was introduced to the undercover officer by her flatmates. The officer regularly bought drugs. Sonntag got no financial gain from the offences. She got involved in the drug scene because she was an outcast in society

and had no real friends. Since her arrest she had stopped using drugs and had severed her association with her former flatmates.

A non-custodial sentence was appropriate, Miss Farish submitted. The purchaser was a willing buyer and Sonntag was no threat to the community. Mr Justice Tipping said that although Sonntag had a number of convictions for dishonesty she had none for drug offences. She had had real difficulties in her life which had led to her social isolation. She had not initiated the offence, thought that she was helping a friend and did not do it for the money. If she became involved in drug offences again she would almost certainly go to prison.