By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Dandenong magistrate has questioned police over why they opposed bail for a 22-year-old mother charged with public drunkenness and breaching bail.
“Are you serious about this, prosecutor?” magistrate Doug Bolster said at the 4 February hearing.
“If she’s refused bail today, how long will she be in custody?”
It would be seven weeks until she could be referred into a suitable alcohol treatment program, defence lawyer Siva Kandasamy told the court.
“She won’t get anything like that (as a sentence) for being drunk in a public place and contravening bail,” Mr Bolger replied.
“I thought common sense might have prevailed,” he told a police prosecutor. “If you want to proceed with it and waste everyone’s time, then just keep it brief.”
The accused had been charged with public drunkenness 15 times since 2017.
She was arrested after “aggressively” resisting police attempts to move on 10 “African people” drinking cask wine and punching windows on Lonsdale Street Dandenong about 10.30pm on 3 February, the prosecutor said.
She was observed to be “unsteady on her feet”, with slurred speech, a smell of liquor and “abusive” to police, the court heard.
She was then locked up overnight at Dandenong police cells before fronting court.
At the time, she was on bail on a charge of public drunkenness on 20 December. She had breached her bail condition not to be in Dandenong CBD while alcohol-affected, the court was told.
In opposing bail, police argued that she would be endangering public safety and at risk of further breaches.
Instead of applying for bail, the woman opted to plead guilty to the charges.
Her lawyer Mr Kandasamy said she’d started drinking at 16 due to family and relationship problems. She lived at home with her mother and her daughter.
Magistrate Bolster said his dilemma was what happened to the accused prior to the March alcohol program.
“I don’t know what the answer is immediately.
“Given what I’ve heard, she’s likely to be consuming alcohol between now and when you can arrange for her to be on this program.
“For people like her, prison isn’t the right place for them. They seem to fall through the gap.”
The woman was discharged with conviction, with the magistrate imploring that “every effort should be done to assist her immediately”.
“You’ve got to get off the alcohol,” Mr Bolger told her.
“You better accept all the help you can get.”
