Suspended prison for eight charges
A WOMAN who faced court for a string of charges including a house break-in, drug possession and breaches of bail, has been sentenced to a 15-month suspended prison term.
Claudia Lorna Jeffries, 21, of Mount Jukes, appeared in Proserpine Magistrates Court on video from prison where she pleaded guilty to entering a dwelling and committing and indictable offence, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs exceeding schedule 3 and five breaches of bail.
Prosecutor Robert Beamish said Jeffries and a co-offender broke into a Shute Harbour house through an open window on June 24 last year and damaged the house.
The court heard her second most serious offence was possessing 9.693 grams of methamphetamine that day.
She also faced charges of possessing 1.8g methamphetamines on January 3, as well as five breaches of bail which occurred on October 11, December 24 and three on January 3.
Jeffries's lawyer Rosemary Varley said her client had the 9.639g of methamphetamine because a friend had "asked her to hold on to this”.
She also argued some of the breaches of bail were minor, including one where she reported 20 minutes late on Christmas Eve because she had lost track of time.
Ms Varley said Jeffries had not previously been sentenced to prison and the 11 days she had spent in custody were "a wake-up call”.
Jeffries was sentenced to 15 months prison for possessing 9.693g of methamphetamine, two months for burglary and a month for the smaller drug charge, with each sentenced to be served concurrently and wholly suspended for two years.
She was not further punished for the breaches of bail as she had already spent 11 days in custody waiting for the court appearance.