Woman wanted in SA busted with drugs in Warrnambool

Chloe Blair, 35, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday, October 30, to trafficking meth and possessing the proceeds of crime ($956.20 in cash).

Lawyer Ian Pugh said his client had an addiction issue and the drugs were for her own use.

He said her background included domestic violence and other issues, requesting a corrections order with drug rehabilitation and other programs.

"That's really what she requires. She's making real efforts to get herself in order with a job and accommodation. Some serious efforts," he said.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge questioned that submission, saying that claim was difficult to reconcile with "someone wandering around with quarter ounce of methamphetamine, $1000 in cash and a warrant out for her arrest".

"The issue is should she serve out her time in custody?" he said.

Blair told the court she had previously been jailed for almost three months for driving while disqualified and completed four months of home detention out of a six-month sentence.

"You are just sailing so close to the wind," Mr Lethbridge told her.

"You have two jurisdictions chasing you .

"It's not usual for people your age to be in a situation like this. It's usually younger people who have suffered trauma and are working through issues, growing out of it in their late 20s."

Blair said a change in family circumstances led to her later-than-usual drug use and addiction.

"Before that I was working and a normal part of society," she said.

Mr Lethbridge told Blair it was clear she had the capacity to live a normal life.

He said she would go one of two ways, either stop offending or do really significant jail stretches - "just a complete waste of your life".

"This is your last chance," he said, explaining there was a chance complying with her corrections order would influence future court appearances.

He said if she breached the order she would come back to court and be jailed.

The magistrate convicted Blair, placed her on a 12-month corrections order with conditions that she do 150 hours of community work, drug assessment and treatment and rehabilitation programs.

Blair has 19 pages of prior criminal history and previously was sentenced to a corrections order in South Australia.

There's also the complication of Blair being wanted in South Australia on a warrant of apprehension.

That warrant has not been executed but could result in Blair being extradited to South Australia.

Police told the court that on Sunday, October 29, police observed Blair at a bus stop in Warrnambool's Cramer Street in the company of a known drug user.

A search of Blair located 26 grams of methamphetamine inside her handbag and $956.20 in cash in her jacket.

She was arrested and transported to the Warrnambool police station where she was placed in a cell.

Custody officers observed Blair acting suspiciously and a full search was conducted which resulted in a small black bag being located in her bra.

Inside the bag was seven grams of meth in four deal bags, packaged for sale.

Blair admitted she was a drug user. The street value of the drugs she was found with is about $15,000.

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