Mackay glamour mum has onerous bail condition removed
UPDATE 4PM: The mother of three, who faces 42 charges, argued for her bail to be varied.
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UPDATE 4PM: A GLAMOROUS mum of three has successfully had her bail conditions varied to remove curfew conditions preventing her from leaving her home between 8pm and 6am each day.
Chloe Victoria Smith is facing 42 charges including serious drug offending allegations of trafficking and supplying drugs following her arrested earlier this year as part of a police sting targeting a network spanning from the Gold Coast to Cairns.
Her strict bail conditions included a $10,000 surety, reporting to police three times a week, a curfew and no contact orders against a number of people.
Yesterday the beauty worker applied to have the curfew condition removed, with her lawyer Corey Cullen citing the number of times police had visited her home since April 29, which totalled almost 50.
Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan yesterday said she would vary the bail but, before she could issue new bail documents, the person who fronted Ms Smith's surety needed to attend court to sign the paperwork.
Mackay Magistrates Court heard he was there today.
"My decision is that the curfew was over and above the requirements necessary to meet the criminality of what… (Ms) Smith is alleged to have done," Ms Hartigan said.
"Albeit a serious offence, in my view it is not justified to place her on a curfew.
"Even though I respectfully acknowledge… a different magistrate would take a different view."
Ms Smith's bail was varied and the curfew removed. She will reappear in court next month.
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EARLIER: A MAGISTRATE will vary bail for a Mackay glamour-cum-alleged drug trafficker labelling strict curfew conditions "too onerous" for the mother of three.
Mackay Magistrates Court heard revelations police allegedly knocked on the mother of three's door almost 50 times, with at least 15 curfew checks between midnight and 5am.
Chloe Victoria Smith is facing 42 charges, including trafficking and supplying dangerous drugs that stem from police operation Romeo Suitcase targeting an alleged network spanning from the Gold Coast to Cairns.
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She was initially granted bail on strict conditions including a $10,000 surety, no contact orders and a curfew.
The court heard she had three children aged between one and six and that one of her children was with her current partner and co-accused in the alleged drug offending Reece William Luscombe.
He is facing 20 charges including trafficking and suppling
It is alleged the pair are players in the drug syndicate linked to the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
The court heard the original bail included no contact orders between the couple but Ms Smith successfully applied to the supreme court to have the condition removed because it was considered to be more onerous than was necessary especially as the pair had a child.
Today Ms Smith, who is a self-employed beauty worker, applied through her solicitor Cory Cullen to have the curfew removed.
Brisbane-based Mr Cullen said at the time his client was granted bail, in April this year, "very stringent conditions were imposed".
Mr Cullen said he advised Ms Smith to keep a record of when the police performed a curfew check at her home with the first entry on April 29.
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The court heard since then she had recorded 49 visits with some checks occurring on consecutive nights waking her young children - it is alleged she did not answer the door for two of those visits because she did not wake up.
Prosecutor Harry Coburn, who opposed the application, referred to the two times she did not answer the door. The court heard she is facing two charges of breaching bail, which she intended to dispute.
Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said there were only 12 out of 47 times "that police have come at any hour that would not have disturbed the children".
"For someone charged with trafficking, which is confined to … at least the bulk telephone intercepts and, regardless of what the allegations are, I doubt it's this woman running around in the middle of the night if she has three children," Ms Hartigan said.
"That's more onerous than required for the criminality of what's alleged against (Ms Smith).
"That's bad for her mental health let alone the mental health of her children.
"It's night after night after night."
Mr Coburn argued Ms Smith's curfew was between 8pm and 6am and as such police would perform checks between those times.
"I understand 2am is not an ideal time for anyone to be woken up but if you are supposed to be in the house … police are entitled to check," Mr Coburn said.
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Ms Hartigan said the question was whether or not Ms Smith needed the curfew condition for the allegations against her as curfew was intended for those accused of committing offences in the night.
Ms Hartigan ultimately decided it was "too onerous for the circumstances" and said she was prepared to remove the curfew condition.
The case was adjourned to tomorrow morning so the person, who signed the $10,000 surety could sign the new paperwork.
Matters against Ms Smith and Mr Luscombe will be mentioned again on October 12.
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