Tina Dollin to appeal jail sentence for tap-and-go fraud in Orange

Tina Louise Dollin, 34, of Moad Street, was taken into custody in the courtroom after being sentenced to three months in full-time jail for using a stolen credit card to buy cigarettes, a cigarette lighter and a Slurpee.

According to police, Dollin and a male co-accused found the card in a wallet that had been left behind in the gaming room at the Royal Hotel on March 30.

Dollin and the co-accused were in the gaming room at the same time as the victim on March 30.

About 11.47pm the victim left, leaving his wallet in the coin disposal tray. Two minutes later Dollin took his seat and started to play the poker machine and police alleged the co-accused picked up the wallet and handed it to Dollin who slipped it into a pocket of her hoodie.

At 12.39am Dollin, the co-accused and another man went to the 7Eleven on Bathurst Road where she used the victim's bank card to buy cigarettes, lighter and Slurpee for $94.47.

Her solicitor Clive Hill called for a community-based order due to an acquired brain injury she suffered in a car crash. He said she started using drugs in 2019 and didn't come to the attention of authorities until 2020.

Magistrate David Day however, said Dollin was about two months into serving Intensive Correction Orders for driving offences. "I cannot see how any of these things are vital," he said of the purchases.

He said a short jail sentence was appropriate to "denounce her conduct and make her accountable for her actions".

"It was well below the level of objective seriousness but it does require a custodial sentence. It is a prevalent offence, she needs to have her conduct denounced."

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