Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Napier drug dealer caught with methamphetamine in pencil case avoids prison

Ric Stevens
Ric Stevens
Open Justice reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
14 Jan, 2022 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Judge Geoff Rae said Chloe Stokes had shown a "resolute commitment" to rehabilitation. Photo / NZME

Judge Geoff Rae said Chloe Stokes had shown a "resolute commitment" to rehabilitation. Photo / NZME

A Napier woman who dealt in "wholesale" quantities of methamphetamine has avoided a prison sentence after being given credit for her commitment to overcoming her addiction.

Chloe Violet Jayne Stokes, a first-time offender, was sentenced to 12 months' home detention by Judge Geoff Rea in the Napier District Court on Friday. She had received a sentencing indication of nine and a half years in jail when she appeared in court in May 2020.

Stokes was convicted of six counts of possessing methamphetamine for supply, two of conspiring to deal in methamphetamine, seven of supplying methamphetamine and one offence of possessing methamphetamine utensils.

According to the Crown summary, police responding to a family violence call-out in Napier in May 2019 found Stokes in possession of a rainbow-coloured pencil case containing 40 snap-lock bags with methamphetamine in them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The total weight of the bagged meth was 16.33 grams.

A cellphone belonging to Stokes was found to contain communications with someone named "Golly", who was apparently based in Auckland.

Data from the phone showed that Stokes was obtaining large amounts of meth from Golly to supply other people in the Hawke's Bay area.

The total amount of methamphetamine involved was around 537g, with an estimated value of $110,000 to $120,000.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Defence counsel Matthew Phelps said the offending had happened at a time when Stokes was in a psychologically troubled state, battling addiction and engaged in "some very self-destructive conduct".

She had spent 83 days in custody on remand since then and more than 18 months on electronically monitored bail at Auckland's Odyssey House rehabilitation centre.

Phelps said Stokes, who had a background of addiction and trauma, had completed a substantial amount of rehabilitation and now had a part-time job.

He argued for a sentence of home detention.

Discover more

Surf lifesavers' cyclone warning: Watch Hawke's Bay's waves from a hill

13 Jan 10:41 PM

Summer photo competition: Are these the winners, or is yours better?

14 Jan 12:07 AM

CHB celebrates reaching vaccine milestone

13 Jan 11:58 PM
New Zealand

Crooks, lines and sinkers: Grandson's stunning lake bed find, 15 years after theft

14 Jan 12:31 AM

However, Crown Prosecutor Cameron Stuart said the Crown opposed a home detention sentence because of the seriousness of Stokes' offending.

He said Stokes had been moving "wholesale" quantities of meth between Auckland and Hawke's Bay, and reports had assessed her of having a moderate likelihood of reoffending.

Judge Rea said Stokes had had a difficult and unstable upbringing, with exposure to drugs and anti-social behaviour at a young age. She had a child with a "controlling" man who introduced her to methamphetamine.

Her case was overlaid with her addiction and the "worst possible trauma" when she suffered a violent assault in March 2020.

Judge Rea said Stokes had engaged in very serious meth dealing, bringing drugs into the community "well beyond your own addiction".

However, the judge told Stokes that "you have done everything you possibly could to improve things" and had shown a "resolute commitment" to rehabilitation.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I've never come across anything quite like this in my experience," Judge Rea said of Stokes' rehabilitation efforts.

Stokes' time on electronically monitored bail was also one of the longest he had seen.

Using the sentencing indication of nine and a half years in prison, Judge Rea said he would deduct 20 per cent for Stokes' guilty pleas, and a further 55 per cent for her rehabilitation efforts.

The time she had spent in custody and on electronically monitored bail could also be taken into account to reduce her possible jail sentence to the threshold where home detention became an option.

He sentenced Stokes to 12 months of home detention on each charge, to be served concurrently, with post-detention conditions to continue with rehabilitative treatment.

Stokes wiped away a tear as the sentence was announced.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The $5210 found with the drugs was forfeited to the Crown.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Silver Ferns arrive in Napier ahead of sold-out match against Proteas

22 Sep 04:53 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Cyclone-hit culvert rebuilt with fish ladder and repurposed material

22 Sep 03:55 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Charity begins at home as Magpies launch bid for home quarter-final

22 Sep 03:39 AM

Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Silver Ferns arrive in Napier ahead of sold-out match against Proteas
Hawkes Bay Today

Silver Ferns arrive in Napier ahead of sold-out match against Proteas

It is the Silver Ferns' first international match in Hawke’s Bay since 2017.

22 Sep 04:53 AM
Cyclone-hit culvert rebuilt with fish ladder and repurposed material
Hawkes Bay Today

Cyclone-hit culvert rebuilt with fish ladder and repurposed material

22 Sep 03:55 AM
Charity begins at home as Magpies launch bid for home quarter-final
Hawkes Bay Today

Charity begins at home as Magpies launch bid for home quarter-final

22 Sep 03:39 AM


Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable
Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP