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Woman had cocaine in her car when stopped by Police

A 27-year-old mother is facing jail after admitting possession of cocaine with intent to supply.Shernelle Moniz, of no fixed abode, appeared at Magistrates’ Court where a pre-sentence report was ordered by Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo.Crown counsel Nicole Smith said Moniz was stopped by police while driving a Subaru car on November 20, 2010.“She immediately became agitated and said ‘Do you have to stop me? I have my son with me.’ They said they had reason to search her under the Misuse of Drugs Act.”The officers escorted her to Hamilton Police Station, where she was searched and found to have 14 brown paper twists containing an off-white rocklike substance in her pants. The substance was analysed and found to be 2.5 grams of cocaine.Moniz was again followed by police on April 25, 2011, while driving along Court Street in a Mitsubishi Lancer with a smashed windshield.Ms Smith said the officers lost her briefly after she turned onto The Glebe Road and then saw her vehicle parked on Perimeter Lane.“Officers waited until the defendant returned to her vehicle before returning to speak with her,” she said. “They caused her to stop with lights, sirens and hand signals.”The prosecutor said after stopping, Moniz fidgeted and leaned forward in her seat to her right-hand side.“On seeing the officers the defendant looked suspicious and jumped out of her vehicle and engaged them in conversation.”An officer saw a brown paper twist on the floor of the car to the right of the driver’s seat and, after retrieving it, found it contained a white substance. During a search of the car, a razor blade with white residue on it was found.Ms Smith said the substance in the twist was later found to be 3.2 grams of cocaine, with a street value of about $1,000, and that the residue on the razor blade was also cocaine.Moniz admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply cocaine and possession of a razor blade fitted and intended for use with the controlled drug.Ms Smith said Moniz was currently serving a three-month jail term for other drug offences and ought to be given a further prison sentence of no less than three months.Defence lawyer Charles Attridge, mitigating, said his client had got herself caught up in trouble in the last six to nine months but was not a repeat offender.He asked Mr Tokunbo to read an earlier social inquiry report, which he said contained sensitive information about Moniz. It was not read aloud in court.The magistrate said it would be useful to have an updated report and ordered one. He remanded Moniz in custody prior to sentencing on September 29.