Woman breaks free from the Mob
The actions of a gangland relative who forced Melissa Melanie-Jane Laxon into meth-dealing to repay a debt were described by a judge as “contemptible or despicable”.
Laxon, a 38-year-old solo mother-of-two, is the daughter of the Mongrel Mob’s Notorious chapter in the South Island.
She has worked hard to break away from her family’s gang involvement, even moving with her children from Hawkes Bay to the South Island.
She has also got herself out of a violent and abusive relationship.
Defence counsel Phil Shamy said at her Christchurch District Court sentencing on six charges of dealing in methamphetamine: “She has extracted herself from the inextractable.”
But not completely. Eventually a family member helped her financially and then forced her back into drug dealing to pay the debt.
Methamphetamine was being brought to Christchurch and then distributed through the South Island. Laxon was distributing it into the Dunedin area. Judge Raoul Neave said text messaging did not show any reluctance on Laxon’s part. She appeared to be an “enthusiastic participant”.
Mr Shamy said Laxon had grown up in a Mongrel Mob family, but “remarkably she has managed to get herself out of this predicament”.
A family member had then extracted her co-operation in the drug dealing to pay a debt.
Judge Neave commented: “I can’t work out whether contemptible or despicable are the proper adjective – probably both”.
Laxon had pleaded guilty to six charges involving dealing in 32g of methamphetamine, a class A drug.
Judge Neave said: “Those who struggle and succeed in breaking free from gangs should receive encouragement, praise and reward.”
He noted glowing school reports about her two teenage children who were excelling academically and at sports. Mr Shamy had earlier described Laxon giving the children “the stability she never had”.
Judge Neave reduced Laxon’s jail sentence for her contribution to the community, her efforts to rebuild her life, and her guilty pleas, and sentenced her to a year of home detention at an address near Dunedin. Release conditions will apply for six months after the term.
Category: Focus
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