Ice in lolly pack jail swap
A PREGNANT Corio woman has been remanded in custody after she was caught trying to smuggle ice into a prison by hiding it in a packet of Skittles.
Naomi Gallagher, 31, appeared before the Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday over numerous charges including possessing methamphetamine, possessing cannabis and bringing methamphetamine into a jail.
The court heard she was visiting a friend in prison last year and when she was seen by corrections officers to be acting “in an extremely nervous manner”.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable David Vanderpol said an officer observed Ms Gallagher pick up a packet of Skittles and place something inside it.
Mr Vanderpol said the officer then observed the prisoner “pick up the Skittles” and both were immediately escorted from the visitor centre.
“In the packet of Skittles officers observed there were balloons inside, and one of the balloons contained 0.2 grams of crystal methamphetamine (ice),” he said.
He said the other balloon contained 10 white tablets.
The court heard Ms Gal- lagher told police she had tried to give her friend the drugs because she “didn’t want him to get hurt” in prison and thought “there might be ice in one” balloon but had “no clue” about what was in the second.
Mr Vanderpol said, during 2016, on different occasions, Ms Gallagher was also caught by police with cannabis and ice, and illegal ammunition.
Lawyer for Ms Gallagher, Phillip Teo, said his client’s ac- tions were “effectively the culmination of a four-year drug habit”. He said she had been introduced to drugs after falling in with the wrong crowd but had been clean since March this year and was currently expecting a child.
Magistrate Michael Coghlan told Ms Gallagher she had shown a complete disregard for the court system and the police.
He said her actions undermined prisoners’ ability to re- habilitate.
“Unfortunately people like her introduce drugs into the prison and their addiction continues, and when they’re released they turn to drugs again … it undermines the idea of people being able detoxify,” he told the court.
Ms Gallagher was remanded in custody to be assessed for a community corrections order and will appear before the court on Monday.