A single Queensland mum convicted of smuggling a dangerous drug to the jailed father of her toddler son has escaped a prison sentence.

May 30, 2019

A lonely Brisbane mum, busted for attempting to smuggle a drug used to treat opioid addiction to the jailed father of her toddler son, has narrowly avoided prison herself.

Jade Louise Iszlaub, 26, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to supplying buprenorphine, which is used by drug addicts battling opioid withdrawal, into Woodford Correctional Centre in August 2018.

The court heard Iszlaub attempted to carry a small wrapped package of the orange-coloured drug into Woodford during a lunchtime visit to her then partner.

Asked by prison officers what the drug was, Iszlaub said ‘she didn’t know what it was called but it was something you take so you don’t take drugs’.

“You said you got the contents from your mother, who was on a program,” Judge Greg Lynham told the court on Thursday.

“(But) you also lied to correctional services what your intention was with those drugs – mainly you had brought them for the purposes of supplying Mr Hayes.”

Defence lawyer Patrick Wilson said Iszlaub was a “devoted” mother but struggled with anxiety issues.

“She was pregnant when her (then) partner was taken into custody, she’s always been a single mother and always raised the child by herself,” he said.

“Which cannot be easy.”

The court heard Iszlaub’s former partner, who was convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent, was unlikely to be released soon.

Judge Lynham said people who attempted to sneak dangerous drugs into prisons were “striking at the heart” of the corrections system.

“It also creates a market … (and) potentially could have been sold for a great profit,” he said.

However, he was sympathetic to Iszlaub’s circumstances as a young, solo mum trying to balance her responsibilities as a mother with work.

“It is, perhaps, a situation because of your relationship with Mr Hayes you were no doubt motivated to help him,” he said.

“You are, of course, not to be sentenced because of your choice of relationship.”

Iszlaub was sentenced to a nine-month intensive corrections order, which Judge Lynham described as an extreme form of parole involving community service.