Hawke’s Bay woman hired own parents to work in her cannabis operation

Courtney-Jayne Harris' cannabis dealing scheme grew into a commercial operation. Photo / NZME

When a young mother of two needed workers for her burgeoning cannabis-dealing business, she turned to her retirement-aged parents to help out.

All three family members, all with previously clean records, have now been caught and punished.

Courtney-Jayne Harris, 28, buried her eyes in her hands in court as she was sent to prison for two years and four months on 54 charges, mainly for possessing cannabis for supply and supplying cannabis.

She also dealt in smaller amounts of MDMA, or ecstasy.

Her parents, Dianne May Saker, 66, and Kenneth Charles Harris, 73, were both sent home to don ankle bracelets for six months of home detention after being convicted of three cannabis-related charges each.

The details of the family business were laid out in the Napier District Court when the three came before Judge Bridget Mackintosh for sentencing.

Lawyer Leo Lafferty, representing Kenneth, picked up on a statement in his client’s pre-sentence report declaring “blood is thicker than common sense”.

“The offending beggars belief, Your Honour,” Lafferty said.

“Oh, I agree,” Judge Mackintosh replied.

The business began with Courtney-Jayne’s own cannabis habit, and her discovery she could source the drug without having to go to the local gangs in Hawke’s Bay.

When friends and family found out, her little operation began to grow until, in the words of Crown prosecutor Megan Mitchell, it became a sophisticated commercial operation, using encrypted apps for communication, and money-laundering channels.

Mitchell said Courtney-Jayne was the leader of the organisation, managing “employees” and co-ordinating with suppliers outside the Hawke’s Bay region.

The court was told the group purchased 230kg of cannabis for selling on in a four-month period.

The employees included her parents. They stored stock for her, maintained a “float” to finance purchases; sometimes they liaised with suppliers and dealt with customers.

Dianne played the part of delivery driver. Kenneth did the accounts.

But they could not stay free of gang involvement.

Courtney-Jayne had a boyfriend who was patched and, even though she was still running the operation, she ended up having to pay a “tax” to the Mongrel Mob for protection.

Judge Mackintosh said numerous letters testified that Courtney-Jayne Harris was a hard-working person who had made a contribution to the community.

However, she said another part of her life was “a lot more complex”.

She became involved with a gang member for a significant time.

Reports showed she had struggled with mental health and had been the victim of abuse on a number of levels.

She had dealt with addiction issues as best she could.

In handing down the home detention sentences for Dianne Saker and Kenneth Harris, Judge Mackintosh told them they had got involved in a “very murky and dangerous and complicated world”.

“I don’t know what could have possessed you to get embroiled in all of this,” she said.

“I sincerely hope this is the first and last time we have this discussion.”

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.