Toowoomba judge scathing of drug using pregnant mother of two
The magistrate berated the mother of two for using drugs when the children are living in the home.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A TOOWOOMBA magistrate has berated a pregnant mother of two who had been smoking cannabis in the family’s home.
Magistrate Kay Ryan regularly makes known her disgust for adults who use drugs when children are in the home.
Duty solicitor Chelsea Saldumbide told Toowoomba Magistrates Court that her client Cassandra Joy Ward had instructed she hid the drugs and never did drugs in front of her children which was of little solace to Ms Ryan.
“Children know. They can find them (drugs),” she said.
“And the police came and searched your house.”
Police prosecutor Rowan Brewster-Webb told the court a police patrol had seen Ward driving out of a Newtown address well known to police on October 21.
Realising Ward had been disqualified from driving for three months on August 19, police stopped the car.
A search of the vehicle found a clip seal bag containing 2g of cannabis which Ward admitted was hers, he said.
The car was found to be unregistered and uninsured.
The next day police raided the 25-year-old’s home which smelt strongly of cannabis to find five adults and two young children there, Mr Brewster-Webb said.
In three containers, police found a total 21.6g of cannabis and 3.3g of resin, a water pipe for smoking the drug, and a grinder and scissors for chopping up leaf.
Ward pleaded guilty.
Ms Saldumbide said her client instructed she had used cannabis to keep her calm and to treat her PTSD.
However, since finding out she was pregnant with her third child, her client instructed she no longer used any drugs.
Magistrate Ryan warned Ward there were consequences to using drugs, particularly when pregnant.
“I get very concerned when children are involved in these types of matters,” she told the defendant.
“I can see the results for kids. Lives are ruined before kids are born.”
Ms Ryan placed Ward on 14 months probation to include random drug testing, fined her $500 and disqualified her from driving for two years.
Woman and boy killed in Western Downs crash identified
Tributes have flowed for a mother and her son after they were killed in a horrific car crash on the Western Downs, as a fundraiser is launched to support her surviving daughter.
Watch: Wild crime spree ends with arrest at university campus
Police will allege the offenders injured a man and a woman in separate robberies across the Darling Downs before a dramatic arrest.
Children may have been doused in petrol before triple fatal house fire
Detectives are investigating whether the three children who died in a house fire had fuel poured on them while their mother had come to the attention of welfare authorities in other states but not Qld.
Boxer to settle brutal assault charge outside court
A former boxer accused of fracturing a Gatton man’s skull during a pub fight in regional Queensland is attempting to settle the matter outside of court.
Detectives investigate after child suffers life-threatening injuries
The life-threatening injuries a four-year-old girl suffered at a home along a suburban street have sparked a police investigation.
Cleaver lodged in chest: Attempted murder charges in doubt
Two young men allegedly involved in a violent Toowoomba home invasion that left a man with a cleaver lodged in his chest are attempting to have their attempted murder charges dropped.