Katrina Wight, Pratheep Alakurasa, Jon Nguyen and Vicki Lemillour all appeared in Dandenong Court
A single mother of two has told a court she “had no idea” how much meth she’d taken when caught driving with drugs in her system. All that and more in the latest court wrap.
South East
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A mum who “wants help” with her drug addiction, man who assaulted his neighbour after too many beers and a terminally ill woman busted with drugs all faced the music at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court.
Vicki Lemillour
A single mum from Pakenham has told a court she has stopped using drugs in an effort to get her children back.
Vicki Lemillour, 27, pleaded guilty to multiple drug and traffic related charges in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on July 12, including driving while disqualified, drug driving and drug possession.
The court heard Lemillour had her first run in with police in Pakenham on June 16 last year, when officers saw her driving erratically on Webster Way, before intercepting her.
Lemillour produced her licence and undertook an oral fluid test, returning a positive result.
Further testing showed she was driving with methamphetamines in her system.
The court heard she made full admissions, telling police she’d been taking drugs seven days prior, but “had no idea” how much she’d had.
Four months later, Lemillour was in a Pakenham home when police executed a search warrant.
A zip lock bag of a crystallised substance believed to be meth was located in her bedside table.
The court heard Lemillour made full admissions to police during the interview process.
Lemillour was caught drug driving again on March 27, when police witnessed her driving on Webster Way in Pakenham.
After being intercepted, Lemillour undertook an oral fluid test, returning a positive result for methamphetamines.
Investigating officers later discovered she was also driving while disqualified.
She said she was “on her way to Coles,” and made full admissions to drug driving, but claimed she didn’t know she was disqualified.
In court on Wednesday, Lemillour said she would “love to get some help”.
“I’m currently sober and have gotten a job as an office assistant,” she said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve touched meth. I would love to get some help for my addiction so my kids can live with me.”
Magistrate Tony Burns said he would give Lemillour “the opportunity to leave with a non-conviction”.
“I want to give you assistance, but I can’t order for you to have court-ordered psychiatric assistance today because you’re appearing via video link,” he said.
“I’m going to deal with this as a financial penalty. It will be much easier for you to get your kids back if you’re not using drugs.”
“I am, however, giving you the chance to leave here today with a non-conviction.”
Mr Burns fined Lemillour $750 without conviction and cancelled her licence for nine months.
Pratheep Alakurasa
A Dandenong man who attacked his neighbour while drunk has told a court the assault was an “isolated incident”.
NBN technician Pratheep Alakurasa, pleaded guilty at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on July 12, after beating up his neighbour and his neighbour’s friend more than three years ago.
The court heard Alakurasa was drinking with two friends at his Dandenong home in early 2020, when he walked across the street to his neighbour’s home.
Alakurasa became aggressive when he was asked to leave, and returned a short time later with his two friends, all brandishing poles and sticks.
The trio attacked the two victims, leaving them with minor injuries.
One victim managed to snatch the pole Alakurasa was wielding in the attack.
A person walking by witnessed the assault and filmed the incident on their phone.
Alakurasa threatened to burn down the witness’ house if he reported the incident to the police.
Police attended the victim’s address later in the day, arresting Alakurasa at his home shortly after.
The court heard when he was interviewed, Alakurasa demonstrated “no signs of remorse”.
“He wasn’t remorseful and denied assaulting the victims,” the court heard.
“He provided various and inconsistent versions of the offence.”
In court on Wednesday, Alakurasa told Magistrate Tony Burns the attack was a one off.
“It was three years ago and a mistake,” he said.
“It was an isolated incident, it won’t happen again.”
Mr Burns said he was “conscious” of how many times Alakurasa had attended court to have the matter resolved.
“It was a long time ago and I know you’ve come to court on about 10 occasions,” he said.
“It sounds like you were hot headed on this night and behaved a bit like a goose.”
Mr Burns placed Alakurasa on a 12-month good behaviour bond, and ordered he pay $500 to the court fund.
Katrina Wight
A terminally ill, single mother-of-three caught drug-driving has said her drug use was “just a relapse”.
Katrina Wight, 44, pleaded guilty in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on July 12 to possession of methamphetamines and drug driving.
The court heard police were patrolling in Dandenong on November 22 when they saw Wight travelling in a car known to be involved with drug trafficking.
Officers intercepted Wight, who told them she was on her way to visit a person also known to be involved in drug trafficking.
A search of the car and Wight turned up a zip lock bag with 1g of a crystallised white substance, believed to be methamphetamines.
In an interview with police, the court heard Wight made full admissions to purchasing the bag.
“I purchased it for $250, and was going to resell it for a profit,” she said.
Wight had a second run in with police earlier this year when she was involved in a collision with a motorbike.
On January 5 a motorbike hit the car Wight was travelling in on Dandenong-Frankston Rd in Seaford.
Despite the collision not being Wight’s fault, she left the scene of the accident.
A witness provided police with Wight’s car registration, and police subsequently contacted her.
She admitted to being in the accident and returned to the scene to assist with inquiries.
Officers required Wight to undertake a breath test and an oral fluid test, the latter coming back with a positive result.
Further testing showed Wight had meth in her system at the time of the accident.
Wight told police that she had used speed five days prior.
In court on Wednesday, Wight told the court the drug use was a relapse, revealing she’d struggled with a heroin addiction earlier in her life.
“Drugs aren’t an issue,” she said.
“I’ve just been having a difficult time.”
Wight told the court she was terminally ill with brain cancer and was in her final stages.
“I stopped using drugs a long time ago to focus on my children,” she said.
“I’ve just been suffering with severe anxiety and depression.”
Magistrate Tony Burns took pity on the single mum.
“You clearly have a significant range of things going on that would break most people,” he said.
“It’s not a surprise, although not acceptable, but there is context that explains your offending.”
Mr Burns said it was a serious offence, however, Wight’s lack of priors worked in her favour.
“I’m going to convict you and place you on a 12-month good behaviour bond,” he said.
Wight’s licence was also cancelled for 12 months as per the mandatory sentencing laws.
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
