Grieving couple Jay and Dee Windross face accused blackmailer Siti Kamal in court
A woman accused of blackmailing a grieving Melbourne couple who had desperately pleaded for help to find a lost phone containing precious photos of their late baby daughter will remain locked up for at least a month.
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A woman accused of blackmailing a grieving Melbourne couple who had desperately pleaded for help to find a lost phone containing precious photos of their late baby daughter will remain locked up for at least another month.
Malaysian national Siti Kamal, 24, appeared via video link from prison for a brief administrative hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
She is facing one charge of blackmail after she allegedly demanded $1000 in return for Jay and Dee Windross’s lost phone full of family photos, which she never actually had.
GRIEVING PARENTS DELIVERED ANOTHER DEVASTATING BLOW
PARENTS ROBBED OF DYING BABY PHOTOS
BABY DIES DAYS AFTER PHONE OF MEMORIES WAS STOLEN
Dee and Jay Windross cry as they speak after court. They desperately want their phone back and they want the book thrown at the woman who faked having it. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/yGPm3i6OGZ
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) April 29, 2019
The couple lost the Samsung Galaxy phone over the Easter long weekend and were pleading for it to be returned when baby Amiyah’s health began to deteriorate rapidly at the Monash Children’s Hospital last Tuesday.
Wearing green prison pants and a white shirt, she bowed her head as she was told she would be remanded until her next court date on July 8.
Asked if she had any questions, despite having a Malaysian interpreter, she responded in English: “So, I have to stay here until that date?”
Magistrate Fiona Hayes confirmed that would be the case, but told Ms Kamal she could speak with her lawyer about making a bail application in the future.
It comes a day after she faced Ringwood Magistrates’ Court, where she was denied bail.
“In the hours we spent holding our daughter, this woman was sitting in her own house demanding money from us,” bereaved mother Mrs Windross said outside Ringwood Magistrates’ Court yesterday afternoon.
“She has two children that are still alive. I don’t have my baby anymore.
“She will have to suffer the consequences of what she’s done.”
The court heard Ms Kamal, who did not speak during the appearance, and her husband left their two children with family in Malaysia less than a year ago and had been living in “precarious” circumstances in Melbourne since September.
The Malaysian parents were working as UberEats delivery cyclists and living in a bungalow at the back of a Springvale share house.
Ms Kamal’s lawyer claimed the couple was desperate for money.
“It’s an opportunist type of crime,” the lawyer said.
A post on social media this month revealed how she was struggling.
Ms Kamal wrote on the Malaysian in Business-Melbourne Facebook page: “I’m looking for a personal loan. Please pm me.”
Despite forfeiting her passport, Magistrate Jan McLean deemed the accused a flight risk and refused her bail.
“The applicant has no ties to the jurisdiction,” she said.
“Their lifestyle is precarious.
“What is of concern is Mrs Kamal’s ability to leave the state of Victoria.
“Seriousness doesn’t even begin to cover the pain this offending would have caused.”
Knowing the young woman would remain behind bars for a while longer provided Mr Windross with some small relief.
“It’s a little bit of justice for now,” he said.
The Windross family were not in today’s hearing.
They are still desperate to be reunited with the missing phone.
They will not hold a funeral for 11-month-old Amiyah, who died on Wednesday, and will instead be celebrating her life with a party in the park when her body is released by the coroner.
Those attending will be asked to bring a purple flower in her honour.