Sue Neill-Fraser’s key appeal witness fined $200 over unrelated cannabis charge

Sue Neill-Fraser’s key murder appeal witness has appeared in court over an unrelated drugs charge.

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THE key witness in Sue Neill-Fraser’s high-profile murder appeal has been fined $200 over an unrelated drug charge.

Meaghan Elizabeth Vass, 27, appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a minor charge of possessing cannabis and one count of failing to appear at a previous court hearing in January.

Vass appeared in the Tasmanian Court of Criminal Appeal last month, pinning the 2009 Sandy Bay murder of Bob Chappell on a teenage boy before sensationally recanting her claims the following day.

Meaghan Vass was the key witness in Sue Neill-Fraser’s appeal. Picture: Nine Network

On Tuesday, Magistrate Chris Webster heard that on January 23 last year, Vass was sprung by police in possession of 16 cannabis buds as she walked through Argyle Street.

She told police she’d purchased the drugs for $50 and intended to smoke it herself.

Vass told Mr Webster “how stupid, really” when he asked her why she committed the offence, and said she’d forgotten to appear in court earlier this year because she was “moving around a lot”.

She was convicted, fined $200 and must pay $68.04 in court costs.

A decision on Neill-Fraser’s murder conviction appeal is yet to be handed down.

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