Lismore bookstore co-owner Sarah Morrow can put the trauma of the last 18 months behind her after being sentenced to a Community Correction Order for a period of 2 years yesterday in Lismore Local Court.

The Community Correction Order was subject to two standard conditions:

a) The offender is not to commit any offence while subject to this Community Correction Order

b) The offender must appear before the Court if called upon to do so at any time during the term of the Community Correction Order.

The court heard how the floods of 2022 caused Ms Morrow to suffer mental health issues and PTSD, and the ongoing use of drugs affected her decision-making.

The defence said that Ms Morrow's role when she was arrested as part of the February 2024 Strike Force McClelland operation was that of support. She had a driver's license and was driving her dealer.

Ms Morrow pleaded guilty to five charges of supplying a prohibited drug, deemed stop supply a prohibited drug, two counts of take part to supplying a prohibitive drug in commercial quantities and possession of an unauthorised pistol at the end of May 2025.

The defence said the pistol, which was found during the search of her home, was illegal but inoperable.

In concluding its summary, the defence said that Ms Morrow has no prior criminal history, is now on top of her addiction and is drug-free. It also stated that Ms Morrow recognises she has fallen from her standing in the community and that the negative media attention has caused additional deep embarrassment.

The police prosecution agreed that Sarah Morrow was remorseful and that the media coverage had an impact on her reputation.

In his summation of the evidence, Magistrate J Linden acknowledged the period of time Ms Morrow was using herself and that she was assisting another person with the supply of drugs.

He also mentioned a psychologist's report that deals with the misjudgement through drug addiction and the numerous references submitted as to her character that should be taken into account.

Magistrate Linden finally announced the 2-year Community Correction Order to begin on 27 August 2025.

As an understanding of what a Community Correction Order is, Corrective Services NSW says:

Courts can use the Community Correction Order to punish offenders for crimes that do not warrant imprisonment or an ICO, but are too serious to be dealt with by a fine or lower-level penalty.

The benefit of CCOs is that they are a flexible sentence that the court can tailor to reflect the nature of the offender and the offence. The court can select from the range of conditions, such as supervision by Community Corrections Officers, community service work (up to 500 hours) and curfews, to hold offenders to account and reduce their risk of reoffending. CCOs can be imposed for a period of up to three years.