Ice ring leader who sold to undercover cops won't serve more time in jail

Warrnambool's Demi Nash sold methamphetamine to undercover investigators in 2022, telling them she supplied the whole town and that police couldn't catch her.

The undercover police officers purchased methamphetamine and GHB from the woman and her associates on a number of occasions, at times totalling more than $3000.

Nash was arrested about two years ago following a seven-month investigation.

About $20,000 cash, three cars and significant quantities of drugs were seized in police raids at a number of Warrnambool properties.

Nash also had $155,000 in her bank that couldn't be accounted for as she had no reportable income from her beauty business between 2019-22, according to the Australia Taxation Office.

Police alleged the woman had lived off the proceeds of trafficking drugs.

Nash pleaded guilty to the offending in 2023 and on May 3, 2024, she was jailed for the 195 days she served in pre-sentence detention.

She was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid community work as part of a two-year community correction order.

Nash's sentencing was repeatedly deferred in order for her to attend a rehabilitation centre.

The Warrnambool Magistrates Court heard she was twice kicked out of that centre.

Her lawyer Gabrielle Nota said the second occasion was not due to drug use or non-compliance but because Nash did not divulge information about other residents.

Ms Nota said Nash had otherwise been progressing well on bail.

She said she had returned a number of clean drug screens and was undertaking a course to become an alcohol and drug counsellor.

She said Nash spent 117 days in rehab and the people who assisted her had their own lived experiences.

"She wants to help people who are in the same position as herself," Ms Nota said.

She urged the court to consider sentencing Nash to the time already served, and an adjourned undertaking to be of good behaviour.

But magistrate Franz Holzer said that submission was "woefully inadequate".

He agreed with a police prosecutor's submission that a further punitive sentence was necessary, leading him to order the hours of unpaid work.

The magistrate previously said Nash had a pivotal role in running the major Warrnambool drug operation, to the point she described herself as the ringleader and she had dozens of taped calls with her former partner about the operation while he was in jail.

On Friday he said if Nash had not pleaded guilty, and was found guilty, she would have been jailed for 15 months.