Oakleigh woman Tracy Murphy says she was holding drugs, weapons for dead addict friend
A woman nabbed driving with a knuckleduster, knives and bags of drugs in Chadstone claims she was returning a backpack to a dead friend’s family after holding it to stop the mate from overdosing. But a magistrate wasn’t so sure.
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An Oakleigh woman claims she was returning weapons and drugs found in her car to a dead friend’s family after holding it to stop the mate from overdosing.
Tracy Murphy, 42, who yesterday faced Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on eight drugs, weapons and driving charges, was driving a white SUV on Power Ave in Chadstone when police pulled over the car about 2am on July 17 last year.
A search of the car — which had no number plates — uncovered an array of weapons and drugs in a camera case and tin inside a backpack on the back seat.
The backpack contained a knuckleduster, four knives, two small bags of ice, two bags of cannabis and a 4g bag of ecstasy.
The car had an unregistered permit restricting use to daylight hours and a check of the vehicle’s identification number revealed it had a NSW registration.
Murphy, who was supposed to have had an alcohol interlock fitted to her car, told police the illegal stash belonged to the family friend who she was trying to save from herself.
In court, Murphy’s defence lawyer said his client was given the backpack by her friend’s family, who confiscated it to stop the mate from overdosing.
The lawyer told the court the friend passed away a short time later and the family had asked for the backpack to be returned, which Murphy was doing when police pulled her over.
He said Murphy, who pleaded guilty to all charges, had no criminal priors, was not a drug user, and accepted responsibility because she didn’t want to implicate her friend or the family.
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The lawyer said the disability support pensioner had issues from her childhood requiring mental health support and tendered a letter from the friend’s family backing up her claim about the origin of the drugs.
Magistrate Jade Bott said it was strange why someone would have knives, knuckledusters and bags of ecstasy, cannabis and ice in her car at that time of the night.
She sent Murphy to be assessed for a community corrections order.