Maxim model prison guard Tara Brooks to make mental health application
A Maxim model prison guard who allegedly sent a convicted cocaine dealer inmate a Valentine’s Day Card under a fake name will try to have her case dismissed for mental health reasons.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Maxim model prison guard who allegedly sent a convicted cocaine dealer inmate a Valentine’s Day Card under a fake name will try to have her case dismissed for mental health reasons.
Tara Brooks, 33, did not appear at Blacktown Local Court on Thursday after becoming the first person to be charged with the new offence of engaging in an “intimate” relationship with a prisoner.
MORE NEWS:
Murdered dentist’s chilling words with ex: ‘I’ve moved on’
Why de Belin is suing NRL over his player ban
Sydney airport worker arrested over massive drug haul
Her lawyer Sean Talty said they would be applying under Section 32 to have the charges dismissed on mental health grounds — which he said seemed to be an “appropriate course of action”.
According to police bail documents Brooks made “full admissions” to the offence.
It comes as The Daily Telegraph can reveal the crimes 41-year-old Hassan Zreika — who allegedly had pictures of Brooks pinned to his wall and kept a series of letters penned by her in his cell — committed to end up in Parklea Correctional Centre.
He was sentenced to a minimum of two years and five months in November 2016 for the commercial supply of 926g of cocaine (worth about $278,000 on the street) and dealing with $45,000, which was the proceeds of crime.
He was also caught in possession of testosterone and the steroid nandrolone.
Agreed facts reveal an undercover officer known as “Johnny” began buying cocaine off a dealer linked to Zreika in August 2016.
In one exchange the dealer texted Johnny “today is different shit ur gonna freak” and he also used the street term “pearl” for cocaine.
Two days later Zreika arrived in a taxi to meet the dealer in Five Dock.
The dealer then got back into a car with Johnny and gave him a large freezer bag containing a beige-coloured powdery rock for $7500.
The following month Zreika pulled up to an address at Five Dock in a black Lexus before getting out carrying a green camouflage-pattern backpack and going into a house.
A dealer then walked out with the same backpack before meeting with Johnny and taking out a plastic freezer bag with 287g of cocaine in exchange for an Aldi bag filled with $70,000.
In November Zreika again arrived at a Five Dock house, this time carrying a grey and black Adidas backpack.
A dealer later then used the same bag to pull out a freezer bag filled with 557g of coke in front of Johnny in exchange for a JB Hi-Fi bag filled with $137,000.
Zreika was later arrested carrying the backpack and told police he went to the house to “do a favour for someone”.
A search warrant at his Macquarie Park home later found cash, steroids and scales.
Brooks, who had worked at Parklea for two years, is alleged to have started the intimate relationship with Zreika some time between December 1 and her arrest on February 13 and police claim it is likely she will be thrown behind bars if convicted.
“This is a very serious offence and a term of imprisonment is very likely for this offence,” police bail documents state.
A source has previously said of Zreika and Brooks: “They were friends before but in December their relationship blossomed when he began working in her area and they grew closer.”
Brooks’ matter will return to court on April 17 — five days before Zreika is eligible for parole on April 22.
Originally published as Maxim model prison guard Tara Brooks to make mental health application
‘Vote them out’: Furious residents slam proposed rate rise
Furious residents staring down the barrel of a massive rates rise have heckled North Sydney councillors speaking in favour of a proposed 87 per cent hike at a fiery meeting.
School evacuated after ‘bomb’ threat
An elite school on the Qld-NSW border has been evacuated after a “bomb” threat, causing panicked parents to slam the incident as “not funny, not clever – and not entertainment”.