Wanted woman feared jail beatings

Around 2005 and 2006, he said Crompton became the victim of a serious attack after which she turned to drugs and alcohol. Photo / APN

A woman wanted by police for alleged drug offences had not turned herself in for fear of ending up in jail and being beaten up by gangs, a jury has heard.

Jayne Crompton, 47, is accused of being part of a family crime syndicate that used motels, bach-style accommodation, public storage units and yards from Whangarei to the Coromandel to make methamphetamine between September 2011 and March 2012.

Also on trial are her partner Dean Frederick Theobald, 42, and her brother Marc Ethelstone, 34, all of whom are facing 60 charges relating to the possession and manufacturing of methamphetamine.

Two charges against Crompton and Theobald - manufacturing P and producing pre cursor substance pseudo ephedrine - were dismissed by Justice Mark Woolford at the end of the Crown case in the High Court at Whangarei yesterday.

Crompton elected to give evidence and is expected to take the witness stand today.

In his opening statement her lawyer Peter Kaye urged the jury to consider what Crompton told police after her arrest from a motel in Howick on May 11, 2012.

She said she feared going to jail and being beaten up by gangs. Since 2011, Mr Kaye said others started pinning things on Crompton and that she and her family were constantly threatened and intimidated.

She was "absolutely not" involved with five clandestine labs associated with her and wouldn't even have a clue about the processes involved in the manufacture of drugs, he said.

Mr Kaye said there were no "trappings" of wealth in Crompton's bank account and she didn't even own a house. She didn't even know that hydrochloride acid found on a shelf at her Silverstream Rd house in Whangarei during a police raid was kept there, he said.

Around 2005 and 2006, he said Crompton became the victim of a serious attack after which she turned to drugs and alcohol.

Mr Kaye said for many weeks of the trial, which started in early March - the jury heard so much evidence that was loaded in favour of the Crown that it was hard not to close their minds on the case.

"But I ask you to have a fair go. If you don't listen and judge this case fairly, then God help us all," he said.

Proceeding.