THE off-duty officer who had requested arrest warrants for Sharon Maree Newman happened to be in the right place at the right time on Friday night.
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Newman was supposed to appear in Orange Local Court last week charged with threatening someone over the phone, stealing a dog and animal cruelty, but she did not show up.
In her absence, the magistrate Terry Lucas convicted her and police prosecutor Sergeant Andy Bobin asked for warrants to be issued for her arrest.
Newman, 46, of Lawson Crescent, stole a woman’s three-month-old fox terrier and put it in a skip bin on a 30 degree day.
Sergeant Bobin saw Newman at Dan Murphy’s liquor store on Friday night, he called for back up and officers arrested her across the road in the Caltex Service Station toilet.
Police allege she was disposing of a syringe in the bin and had stolen make-up in her possession when they arrested her.
In her bag they said they found a metal spoon used for taking drugs and a syringe, but Newman said she found both items.
She pleaded not guilty to the drug offence and not guilty to the possession of goods, believed to be stolen.
Sergeant Bobin asked magistrate Terry Lucas to keep her in prison until her hearing date.
“I’ve lost count of all the failure to appears,” he said.
He also called for jail time for the animal cruelty offences which would be sentenced after the hearing for the new matters.
She was refused bail and is expected at court June 20.
The dog survived its ordeal.