Judge baffled after Coffs woman appears in District Court for $60 theft

A Coffs Harbour judge was left perplexed when a woman appeared in the District Court for stealing $60.

Rhaszy Margaret Briscoe was arraigned at Coffs Harbour District Court.

A Coffs Harbour judge was left somewhat baffled by the case of a woman who appeared before the District Court - for stealing $60.

Rhaszy Margaret Briscoe was recently arraigned in Coffs Harbour District Court where she pleaded guilty to robbing a woman of her purse in December 2019.

Inside the purse was $60 cash, loose change, personal documents and the victim’s ID, the court heard.

“I am aware of the charge and I plead guilty,” Briscoe told Judge Jonathan Priestley.

After reading out the charge and setting a sentence date for July 21, Judge Priestley appeared to briefly struggle to find words.

“Why is she - I can’t help myself but ask, why this wasn’t dealt with in the Local Court? For stealing $60?”

The prosecution could not provide an answer, telling the judge she did not have information on the matter.

“Right,” he replied.

The District Court deals with serious criminal offences referred from the Local Court.

Coffs Harbour Local Court has recently been grappling with a hefty backlog of cases, with new hearings unable to be listed until at least November.

In some cases the long waiting times for hearings has been argued by solicitors as a grounds to grant alleged offenders to walk free on bail.

President of the Law Society of NSW, Juliana Warner, visited the Coffs Coast earlier this year to discuss the issue with local solicitors. She said the Local Court was the busiest jurisdiction in both the state and the Commonwealth - dealing with 96 per cent of all criminal prosecutions.

However, she said it was critically under-resourced and at least 10 new magistrates were needed including an additional one at Coffs Harbour.