An aged care worker has avoided a conviction for hiding tobacco inside her bra and smuggling it into a Geelong prison. Deanne Sobey, 30, was visiting her partner at Marngoneet Correctional Centre when the incident occurred on March 31 last year. The Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard prison authorities caught the woman in the act as she handed two small balloons containing tobacco to her partner, who was serving a sentence at the jail. The man swallowed one of the packages before guards swooped on the pair and searched Sobey, who was found with a further four balloons on her body. Sobey pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of attempting to introduce tobacco to a prison. Defence lawyer Ronald Davis said his client was pressured to smuggle the tobacco at hands of her partner, who was a long-term smoker. “He put quite a bit of force on her and she felt compelled,” Mr Davis said. “She knows that it was wrong.” The court heard the incident led to the man being moved to another prison, while Sobey was banned from visiting him. Mr Davis urged the court to spare Sobey a conviction amid concerns about the effect it could have on her employment within the aged care industry. Magistrate Peter Mellas said the offending was serious, but noted Sobey had pleaded guilty and did not have a prior criminal record. He chose not to impose a conviction as he fined Sobey $1000. “You need to think very long and hard about what happened here,” Mr Mellas said.
