Charges dropped against Qld woman accused of putting needles into strawberries

Prosecutors have explained why charges against a woman accused of inserting needles into strawberries were dropped at the eleventh hour.

Charges against a woman accused of inserting needles into strawberries were dropped because it was unlikely she would be convicted at trial, prosecutors say.

The extraordinary move from the Director of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday morning came before Caboolture woman My Ut Trinh was due to stand trial in the District Court on eight counts of contamination of goods with intent to cause economic loss.

Former farm worker My Ut Trinh was due to stand trial charged with contaminating strawberries with needles but prosecutors dropped all charges against her. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Outside court, her lawyer Nick Dore said Ms Trinh felt it was a “complete vindication” following lengthy legal arguments over evidence that would be given at the trial.

“She sees today as being a complete vindication of what has occurred,” Mr Dore said.

“The decision made by the Director of Public Prosecutions was the right decision to be made when considering all of the evidence that was produced throughout the course of the very long and convoluted prosecution.”

Trinh, a former supervisor at the Berrylicious strawberry farm in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, was alleged to have inserted needles into the fruit while working on the farm in September 2018.

At Brisbane District Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Mark Whitbread indicated they would not be proceeding with the charges.

A DPP spokesman said the determination to drop the charges was made on Wednesday because the Crown “no longer had a reasonable prospect of securing a conviction in this matter”.

It followed several days of legal arguments over evidential matters before Ms Trinh’s trial was due to formally start.

In it, Ms Trinh’s legal team asked the court to exclude DNA evidence allegedly found on one of the contaminated strawberries and a needle.

My Ut Trinh (left) and her Nick Dore lawyer address the media outside court after the charges were dropped. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Documents released by the court state they also asked for two interactions she allegedly had with other workers on the same strawberry farm be excluded.

Ms Trinh was alleged to have told a co-worker prior to the alleged contamination she would “put the needle in the strawberry and make them go bankrupt”.

A week before the contamination, Ms Trinh was fined for speeding in one of her employer’s trucks and when she presented the infringement, her boss told her “not to speed”.

Needles were first discovered in the fruit in September 2018 when a man bit into a contaminated strawberry bought at a supermarket.

My Ut Trinh following her arrest in 2018. She has now been cleared.

The alleged discovery brought the country’s multi-million dollar industry to its knees as punnets were pulled from shelves amid public panic.

Hundreds of similar cases also emerged across the country.

Ms Trinh was arrested that same year.