Davida Ebony Hopkins fled to Western Australia to get away from Toowoomba’s drug scene

The 29-year-old said fleeing to Western Australia had helped her get her clean of drugs but she returned to Toowoomba two years later to front court.

Not for the first time an offender has appeared before Toowoomba Magistrates Court saying they had to get away from the Garden City and its drug scene.

Davida Ebony Hopkins had failed to appear in the same court on February 24, 2021, on drug and traffic matters arising from an incident the month before, the court was told on Friday.

Hopkins had been charged with being in charge of a vehicle while having methylamphetamine in her system and driving while disqualified after police found her sitting in her car in the carpark of the Gowrie Road Hotel in Newtown on the night of January 26, 2021.

Her solicitor Alysha Jacobsen, of Bouchier Khan Lawyers, told the court the now 29-year-old and her partner had moved to Western Australia at the time to get away from the drug scene in Toowoomba.

Hopkins had been employed in the civil construction industry in Western Australia until she sustained a work injury and both she and her partner had become clean of drugs while in the west, she said.

Her client had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, she said.

The couple and their five-month old child had returned to Queensland recently and she pleaded guilty to the charges as well as to failing to appear in court in February 2021, Ms Jacobsen said.

It was accepted that Hopkins was subject to a suspended jail term at the time, she said.

Acting magistrate Kay Ryan sentenced Hopkins to one month in jail on the fail to appear charge but ordered she be released on immediate parole, placed her on 18 months probation and disqualified her from driving for two years and three months.

Originally published as Davida Ebony Hopkins fled to Western Australia to get away from Toowoomba’s drug scene