Former Gold Coast prison guard Nicole Georgiou may argue she has no case to answer
Defence lawyers for a prison guard accused of smuggling drugs and being in a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship with an inmate may submit she has no case to answer.
South West
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A prison guard at one of Queensland’s most notorious jails who is accused of smuggling drugs into the facility and having an affair with an inmate may argue she has no case to answer.
Nicole Lisa Georgiou, 43, of Varsity Lakes was suspended from duty at Wacol’s Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre on July 7 last year after detectives received a tip-off alleging she accepted $5000 to smuggle almost $200,000 worth of buprenorphine into the jail for a prisoner.
Search warrants executed at her home and in her Dodge Nitro SUV allegedly revealed she was in possession of a quantity of drugs, more than $1500 cash in $50 notes, and a collection of letters penned by prisoner Teariki Touna May.
Police documents alleged another series of sexually-explicit letters were found in May’s cell at Woodford Correctional Centre, where he was moved after previously being kept in Arthur Gorrie.
The inmate allegedly confessed to being in a “friends with benefits” relationship with the Gold Coast guard, stating he “pursued” her with handwritten notes while incarcerated at Arthur Gorrie.
The documents further alleged the drugs in Ms Georgiou’s possession were kept in four heat-sealed bags and concealed in a pair of corrective services work trousers.
Ms Georgiou is facing four charges: aggravated supply of dangerous drugs within a correctional facility, misconduct in relation to public office, prohibition on intimate relationships between staff and offenders, and possessing dangerous drugs.
Law clerk Adriane Hillier told the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday, February 22 that her lawyers were seeking a committal hearing with “no case submissions” in relation to the charges of supply and misconduct.
The matter was adjourned on Wednesday to May 16 and Ms Georgiou’s bail was enlarged.
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