"Outlandish entry" leads to jail sentence

ONE woman's pain killer addiction was so strong, it drove her to crash into pharmacy, five weeks after receiving a suspended sentence for similar offences

Grafton Local Court. Picture: Matthew Deans

ONE Grafton woman's addiction to pain medication was so severe, she drove a car through a pharmacy shopfront window and attempted to break in to two other pharmacies to steal the medication she craved, just five weeks after receiving a suspended jail sentence for a similar series of offences.

Alicia Lee Cachia, 40, appeared in Grafton Local Court via audio-visual link yesterday, after pleading guilty to a breaking and entering one pharmacy and two property damage offences from two other attempted break and enters.

According to police facts, Cachia suffers from chronic pain from injuries sustained in a car crash 12 months prior, which has formed a drug dependency which has grown worse since she has ran out of avenues to source drugs from local doctors.

On March 17, Cachia attempted to break in to Southside Pharmacy in South Grafton and Ada and Flynn Pharmacy, causing property damage to both premises.

While Cachia was unsuccessful those two attempts, about 5.41am Cachia drove a vehicle through the front doors of Good Price Pharmacy. CCTV footage captured a vehicle smash through a glass panel of the front entrance, before Cachia entered the premises, walk to the dispensary and take a large number of assorted prescription medication, a total of 43 boxes, before leaving.

The next day police attended Cachia's home address, where she denied the allegations. After applying for a search warrant police returned at 1.45pm and searched the property, when they found a large number of prescription pain medication, which was identified as the items stolen from Good Price Pharmacy.

In court, Cachia's defence representative said his client was not thinking clearly, as indicated by the "outlandish" entry to the Good Price Pharmacy, and that multiple stresses were operating on Cachia at the time of offending.

During her sentencing, Magistrate Karen Stafford said the offences were serious, and her punishment needed to reflect the serious harm done to the community and the damage to the three pharmacies targetted by Cachia.

Magistrate Stafford also noted that earlier this year in February, Cachia was placed on a 12-month suspended sentence for a break and enter at Grafton Super Clinic, where Cachia used a sledgehammer and claw hammer to gain access to the clinic to steal pain killer medication including codeine, Antenex and Epam, as well as another attempted break in at Chemist Warehouse.

"Within five weeks of being released on a suspended sentence and supervision by corrective services, you've committed three further offences," Magistrate Stafford said.

Cachia was sentenced to two years in prison as an aggregate sentence for the three charges, with a non-parole period of 10 months.

Originally published as "Outlandish entry" leads to jail sentence