By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A TRAINED nurse turned ice user and dealer has been urged by a judge to stay away from the “Dandenong-Cranbourne area”.
Emily Smith, 21, of Cranbourne, was directed by Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 29 February to stay with family in Wonthaggi to complete her community corrections order.
It was, however, noted that she first tried ice in Wonthaggi, her home town, at the behest of her boyfriend and drug dealer.
Smith faced charges over being found by police with increasing amounts of ice while on a corrections order in the past two months.
On 10 February she fled from her Cranbourne home during a nearby “police incident” that she wasn’t involved with, the court was told.
Smith jumped neighbours’ fences and was found hiding in bushes in a nearby property. A deal bag containing six grams of meth was found on the ground nearby.
Police also seized a gold-coloured Toyota Kluger with false plates as well as its keys found on Smith.
The accused told police she had the keys for “safe keeping”, the court was told.
At 4am on 29 February, Smith was found in a car in an alley behind shops in Cranbourne.
Police seized two deal bags with a total of 12.81 grams of ice, a bottle of clear liquid, a syringe and $270 cash.
The court noted that one gram of ice had a street value of between $500 and $1000.
Smith denied knowledge of the items and was remanded to face court that day.
The accused was also intercepted driving while suspended in a car with false, cancelled registration plates on South Gippsland Highway, Lynbrook, on 1 February.
Smith’s lawyer said the accused moved from Wonthaggi to Cranbourne last March and had become highly addicted.
She was trying to cut down from a daily use of 0.5 grams of ice and 20 mL of GHB, the court was told.
Smith had a “slow start” to the early stages of her correction order, the lawyer said.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said he would not release Smith, while ice addicted, into the community.
“She needs time off the drug. But I don’t want her getting comfortable in custody either.”
Mr Vandersteen noted Smith’s prior offences of trafficking, drug possession, having a controlled weapon and careless driving.
He said Smith was “intelligent” and “capable” but “really wobbling at the moment”.
“You’re living a life foreign to most people. You’re getting into an area of … not only using more but trafficking more.
“You’ve got to get out of the Dandenong-Cranbourne area.
“Wonthaggi is a small area … people know who you are and you will have better one-on-one time at corrections.”
He jailed Smith for seven days with release on a treatment-focused, judicially-monitored community corrections order.
