Jacinta Henry: Chef found slumped in car with ice, ecstasy and GHB
Crook cook: On April 1 last year cops came across a fool and a drug dealer in a car surrounded by a smorgasbord of substances.
South East
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A semi-comatose chef discovered in a car during a welfare check with an array of illegal ingredients on board has fronted court.
Jacinta Lee Henry was sitting alongside a convicted drug trafficker when police came across their vehicle, finding her in a dazed haze slumped in the passenger’s seat.
Cops uncovered an array of pills, powders and puff, drug paraphernalia including ice pipes and scales, and a large hunting knife inside the idling car.
The Dromana 31-year-old pleaded guilty to drugs, weapon and making false statement charges at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The court heard police were conducting a welfare check in Rosebud on April 1 last year when they found Henry in a stationary car.
Their attention had been piqued because the engine was left running and the indicator was on, but they didn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Henry was disorientated and drug-affected, while her equally addled accomplice was found passed out in the driver’s seat.
An ambulance was called and they were both taken to hospital for observation.
Inside the car officers found rolled-up $10 notes using for snorting drugs, bags of ice, ecstasy pills, syringes, containers of GHB, cannabis, several phones, scales, glass pipes and a large knife.
When Henry was later interviewed she said she had the knife for her work as a chef, but refused to comment about the drugs.
And in September last year she falsely reported her car as stolen, only for cops to find it later at her mum’s house with fake plates on it.
Defence lawyer Sean Kelly said Henry had been clean for the past 16 months and had screens to prove it.
He said she had moved away from the Peninsula drug scene and was now working as a chef at a Phillip Island venue.
He said a heavy fine would be an appropriate punishment for the single mother of three young children as she worked full time and would struggle to be able to do community work.
But magistrate Ross Betts disagreed, saying she needed some sort of supervision.
“There were too many drugs found, and I have no evidence she has taken any steps to deal with (her drug issues) since,” Mr Betts said.
“It appears she may have been off drugs for a period of time, but she is still vulnerable to getting back on them.
“Her saying she is dealing with her issues is not sufficient for me.”
Henry was placed on a 12-month community corrections order with 50 hours of unpaid work and drug counselling.
Earlier this year the co-accused, who has a shocking drug history, was given 18 months behind bars.
