Neera-Wilson appeared in the Napier District Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine and cannabis for supply, and possessing LSD, a small amount of which was also found in the vehicle.
She avoided a jail term after getting discounts for her guilty plea, the “tough environment” she grew up in, her remorse and the effect sending her to prison would have on her three young children aged 5 and under.
She also got credit for time already spent in custody and on restrictive, electronically monitored bail.
“It is appropriate to allow you to remain in the community,” Judge Gordon Matenga told her.
“You will be pleased to know I am not going to send you to prison.”
Judge Matenga said the police search found 48 bags each containing about 30g of cannabis, and smaller bags with lesser amounts. In total, 1.472kg of cannabis was discovered.
In a makeup bag on the front seat were three ziplock bags, each containing 31g of meth – 93g in total.
A set of electronic scales was also found.
At the police station, Neera-Wilson refused to provide the access code to her phone.
Judge Matenga said Neera-Wilson accepted the summary of facts but did not concede that she owned the drugs.
“You said that the car was yours but the drugs were not,” he said.
Reports provided to the court said Neera-Wilson grew up in an environment where gang and drug use was normalised. She first became a mother at age 16.
The judge said he understood Neera-Wilson had prepared herself and the children for the prospect of her going to prison after receiving a sentencing indication that included the possibility of a custodial sentence.
However, after the discounts were applied, her prison term came below the two-year threshold where home detention could be considered as an alternative.
Neera-Wilson was sentenced to 11 months of home detention, to be served at a Napier address.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
