A WOMAN who admitted trafficking methamphetamine when interviewed at Terang police station has been granted bail after spending two weeks in custody.
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Magistrate Andrew Capell said one of the reasons he would grant bail to Rebecca Fuge, 31, of Burnside Street, Bendigo, was because police had no evidence she was dealing in methamphetamine, or ice as it is otherwise known, when she had made her admissions.
Mr Capell said Ms Fuge’s admissions appeared to be the actions of “someone crying for help”.
Ms Fuge, formerly of Terang, has spent two weeks in custody since admitting to trafficking ice in Frankston for about 17 months since January last year.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Kevin Mullins told Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday that Ms Fuge was apprehended at Terang police station on May 28 this year for outstanding warrants when she visited her then boyfriend who was in custody at the time.
Ms Fuge was facing charges of driving a stolen car at Moorooduc, south of Frankston, on February 20 this year, giving a false name and address, unlicensed driving, stealing a vibrator from a sex shop in Warrnambool on May 7, stealing a licence at Mornington on February 8 and failing to appear at Frankston court on April 29.
Leading Senior Constable Mullins said police opposed bail because Ms Fuge had prior convictions for failing to appear in court and was likely to reoffend.
Alice Reynolds, for Ms Fuge, said her client did not wish to have any further contact with her boyfriend and wanted to start afresh with the support of her family.
Ms Reynolds said Ms Fuge was aware she was facing jail for the charges, the bulk of which she admitted.
There was a risk that Ms Fuge might spend more time in custody awaiting a sentence than if she was bailed and sentenced, she said.
Mr Capell bailed Ms Fuge until July 14, saying he hoped the two weeks she had spent in jail “had got the message home”.
He also took into account that her father and mother were willing to have her stay at their homes in Bendigo and Castlemaine while she was on bail.
Mr Capell told Ms Fuge he had “no doubt that you have burnt your family before” by promising and not delivering.
He said drugs were freely available in the community but Ms Fuge had to avoid them.