Two people who used fake flashing police lights on Main North Rd were running late for court

TWO people used fake flashing police lights to speed through suburban traffic so one of them could attend a court hearing she was late for, a court has heard.

The samurai sword found in the back of a car that was pulled over on Main North Rd at Enfield on Thursday. Photo: Tom Huntley.

• ‘Fake cops’ caught with weapons and drugs

TWO people used fake flashing police lights to speed through suburban traffic so one of them could attend a court hearing she was late for, a court has heard.

The Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Friday heard claims neither of the two people in the car knew anything about the cache of weapons and drugs they were travelling with and that the thousands of dollars they had were a combination of pokie winnings and lawyers fees.

The claims of innocence put forward by Ebony Holland-Harris and Benjamin Michael Stacey failed to impress Magistrate David McLeod, who remanded them in custody based on the seriousness of the charges.

His decision caused Holland-Harris, who had wept throughout the hearing, to start screaming hysterically.

“Please sir, please sir, the drugs were put in my bag,” she said.

“I just went in to get keys and he put them in my bag, please your Honour.

“My dog, my dog, I don’t know what to do about my dog.”

Ebony Holland-Harris being arrested on Main North Rd at Enfield on Thursday. Photo: Tom Huntley.

Stacey, 33, of Angle Vale, and Holland-Harris, 30, of Norwood, have yet to plead to charges of falsely representing themselves as police officers, possessing weapons including a loaded air rifle and trafficking in a controlled drug.

They were arrested after a motorist alerted police to a blue Kia sedan driving through traffic and displaying red and blue flashing lights on the windscreen on Main North Rd at Enfield about 1.30pm on Thursday.

Police said they stopped a man and woman in the car and were told the lights were being used because they were late for an appointment.

A search of the car allegedly uncovered a samurai sword, loaded air rifle, stolen power tools and cannabis in the boot.

It is further alleged 15g of white powder, believed to be cocaine or heroin, was found on the passenger seat underneath Holland-Harris’s buttocks.

Police also claimed $5000 cash was found in her purse.

Weapons and drugs allegedly found in the car. Picture: SA Police.

On Friday, the court heard that led to a third arrest — that of Desmond David Wilkinson, 29.

Senior Constable Chris Hall, prosecuting, said officers searched Wilkinson’s Elizabeth Park home because Holland-Harris rented a room there.

He said officers found 200 white tablets and 3g of crystal methamphetamine in a black box in the living room, and 1.2kg of dried cannabis in a storage container.

Sen-Constable Hall said that, in Holland-Harris’s bedroom, police found plastic bags and two tick lists naming people who owed money for drugs.

Wilkinson, he said, told police “you found the goodies” and then insisted neither his fingerprints nor DNA would be found on the items.

Stephen Bassett, for Holland-Harris, said his client had been due in court at 2.15pm on Thursday “and I know because I was waiting for her”.

He conceded his client was sometimes forgetful and had sought a lift from Stacey unaware of the contents of the car.

“She is an innocent party in this ... when you get a lift from friends, you don’t go around checking the boot for firearms,” he said.

Mr Bassett said his client was also unaware that Stacey had the fake emergency lights which plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter.

He said $3500 of the money were pokie winnings from the Midway Tavern while the rest was “I’m ashamed to say, my legal fee”.

Counsel for Stacey said their client had no prior criminal history and could not be connected, on the existing evidence, to either the weapons or the drugs.

Counsel for Wilkinson said he barely knew either of his co-accused and should not be held responsible for their alleged offending.

Mr McLeod refused all three bail applications and remanded the trio in custody to face court again in August.