Morphine possession ‘to protect husband’

Press, 2 November 1989, Page 18

Morphine possession ‘to protect husband’

A housewife told the High Court yesterday she was not in possession of morphine to supply it, but rather to protect her husband who she knew was up to no good. Linda Elizabeth Smith (also known as Morgan), aged 35, has denied possessing morphine for supply. The Crown prosecutor, Mr Raoul Neave, alleged that 13 packets of the class B controlled drug were found when Smith’s home was searched on May 22, 1989. Defence counsel, Mr Douglas Taffs, said most of the prosecution evidence was not in dispute. He submitted that Smith was in possession of the morphine because she loved her de facto husband and wanted to protect him. Mr Neave alleged that Smith dropped a bottle containing 13 packets of morphine out a bedroom window when the police arrived. At the house police found $BOO in $lOO bundles and $197.63 in two wallets in the defendant’s handbag. Smith said she was looking after the $BOO for her brother while the other money was for household expenses. She said she had found the bottle

containing the morphine about five minutes before the police arrived and when they knocked at the door she panicked. “I was angry with Graeme (Smith, her de facto husband) when I found the bottle. “I wasn’t sure what was in it but I suspected it was something that shouldn’t be there,” she said. Smith, who has married Graeme Smith since the incident, said she loved her husband although she was sometimes scared of him. She said she had been asked by Mr Smith to bank money into her accounts. “When I asked about it I was told politely or impolitely to mind my own business and what I didn't know couldn’t hurt me.” “I asked questions and got a hiding for it,” Smith said. Cross-examined by Mr Neave, Smith denied knowing anything about drug dealings in which her husband may have been involved. She said she did not help prepare, package or store the morphine. Mr Neave sgid a bottle containing acetic anhydride, commonly known as AA, was found at the house. A Department of Scientific and

Industrial Research scientist, Mr David Winter, said AA was used to turn homebake morphine into heroin. Smith said she had not seen the liquid before and it was found in a “junk” cupboard. Detective Peter Boyd, a member of the squad which executed the search warrant, said he spoke to a man who visited the house. He said he knew the man to be an intravenous drug user. Mr Boyd said he searched him and found $lOO in notes, $7 in change and a bottle containing a clear liquid which smelt like AA. Mr Boyd said he did not seize the liquid or the money because at the time it did not occur to him that it might be important. Smith told Mr Neave she knew her husband had “been up to no good” for some months but she didn’t know specifically what. She had been living with Graeme Smith for 18 years, the jury heard. Smith said that as Mr Smith’s wife she could not be forced to give evidence against him. The trial, before Mr Justice Tipping, is expected to end today.