Camera captured interstate traveller hiding drugs outside jail before visit

Louise Charmaine Ryan, 35, of Larson Street, West Bathurst, pleaded guilty in Bathurst Local Court on February 7, 2024 to possessing a prohibited drug.

Police documents before the court said Ryan had travelled from Western Australia to visit an inmate at Bathurst Correctional Centre when she was caught on CCTV placing a box of cigarettes into a bush at the facility at about 8.30am on December 23, 2023.

As Ryan was visiting the inmate, a Corrective Services staff member who watched the video footage went to the area and found a box with two clear bags of cut cannabis leaf, tobacco, cigarettes and a metal smoking pipe.

Police were called while Corrective Services officers kept Ryan inside the facility.

Whilst speaking with police, Ryan - who the court heard is "well known" for drug use and street crime in Western Australia - said she had travelled to see the inmate.

Addressing a self-represented Ryan, Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis said "I don't know what the rules are in Western Australia, but it is illegal here".

Ryan was convicted and fined $400.