A FORMER court registrar accused of passing on information about search warrants to criminals has been granted more lenient bail conditions but is expected to be charged with more offences.
Melissa Hynson, 27, now of Melbourne, appeared in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday and made an application to change her bail conditions.
She was charged in June with one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Ms Hynson’s conditions of bail included that she live at Ambrose Treacy Drive, Bundoora, report daily to the Mill Park police station, not contact prosecution witnesses, not use or have access to a mobile telephone and not use social media, including Facebook.
In a summary of the case previously handed to a magistrate, it was outlined that Warrnambool detectives had been investigating the offence of perverting the course of justice.
It was alleged that information obtained from the contents of search warrant applications presented to the Warrnambool Magistrates Court had been unlawfully released by Ms Hynson to known criminal associates between September 2011 and March 2012.
The accused had been employed as a trainee registrar at the Warrnambool court and a full-time paid employee of the Department of Justice.
Yesterday Detective Senior Constable Jason Bourke of the Warrnambool police crime investigation unit, opposed the application to allow Ms Hynson to have use of a mobile telephone and have contact with police witness Jason Berger, Ms Hynson’s former partner.
A defence solicitor submitted that Ms Hynson was now driving a food delivery van and required the use of a phone for occupational health and safety reasons.
The court also heard that Ms Hynson had been the effective mother for her former partner’s nine-year-old son during the past few years but she had not had any contact with the boy since being charged in June.
Mr Berger told the court that Ms Hynson was the one person who could control his behaviour which a psychologist said included violent outbursts on a daily basis. Detective Senior Constable Bourke told the court that more charges would be laid against Ms Hynson and he was investigating the allegation of contact between Ms Hynson and a police witness on Facebook.
Magistrate Ann McGarvie said Ms Hynson had no prior convictions, so far there had only been one charge laid by police and bail conditions could only be set on that one charge. She granted the bail condition changes.
Ms Hynson now only has to report to police on Mondays and Fridays between 6am and 9pm, can contact Mr Berger and his son, use a mobile telephone, but she still has to reside with her parents, not use social media including Facebook and cannot contact other police witnesses.
