Courtney Beamish, girlfriend of graffiti vandal Iszaac Bonnici, guilty to possessing cannabis
`I don’t know what to say, I haven’t been to court before’ — Glamorous girlfriend of a Blue Haven graffiti vandal flip-flops before pleading guilty to possessing prohibited a drug.
Central Coast
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The girlfriend of a man who went on a graffiti spree through the Hunter, Central Coast and Sydney and later posted images of his handiwork on social media, has pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited drug.
Courtney Beamish, 19, of Blue Haven, represented herself at Wyong Local Court on Wednesday where she initially entered a plea of guilty to one count of drug possession.
However she told the court she “didn’t really have anything to do with it” causing the magistrate to question whether she intended to plead guilty or seek legal advice.
The magistrate told her he was willing to proceed with the matter without conviction if she was prepared to enter a plea.
“I don’t really what to say, I’ve never been to court before,” Beamish told the court.
The matter was adjourned briefly for the cafe worker to speak to a Legal Aid solicitor before returning to court where she formally entered her plea of guilty.
The court heard police investigating a string of malicious damage offences on trains across Sydney, Central Coast and Hunter Region, raided the Blue Haven home Beamish shared with her partner Iszaac Bonnici, also 19, on July 28.
The magistrate said the police facts stated police found three 30cm-tall cannabis plants growing in a hydroponic set up with lights and extractor fans.
He said Beamish was not charged with cultivating prohibited plants but “made admissions to police she was aware of them”.
The magistrate said he accepted she “played a lesser role” and sentenced her to a 12-month community corrections order without conviction.
The court heard her partner Bonnici was due to be sentenced in November after pleading guilty to 22 spray-painting, trespass and drugs offences at a previous appearance.
Following the raid on the couple’s home, Bonnici was taken to Wyong Police Station where he was charged with seven counts each of malicious damage and entering train lines.
He was also charged with five counts of disguising his face with intent to commit an indictable offence along with one count each of possessing and cultivating a prohibited plant.
Police facts, tendered in court, state Bonnici conducted acts of vandalism at train stations at Kingsgrove, Maitland, Campbelltown, Hamilton, Lidcombe, Telarah and Gosford.
The court heard Mr Bonnici then uploaded these acts of vandalism to social media
During the search of their home, police also located sketch pads, spray paint, a mobile phone and 16g of dried cannabis.
Bonnici’s bail was continued until his sentencing on November 4.