![ATM theft a surprise for Christmas ATM theft a surprise for Christmas](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/CXnecSe9En4WWrpX4sC8Fx/6374895f-8401-41f4-94c1-6dc3f1f97a4b.jpg/r0_0_1000_600_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The bonds of friendship did not count for enough when an ice user got her hands on another woman’s bank card and PIN.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Wodonga woman Bianca Lyons, 32, had permission to withdraw $150 from her friend’s account just before Christmas, on December 23 last year.
The extra $800 she took from the account was a step too far.
Lyons appeared in Wodonga Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to a single charge of theft.
The police prosecutor said the pair had been friends for seven years when the victim asked her to withdraw the $150 in cash from an ATM on High Street in Wodonga.
He said the extra money was taken in a separate transaction.
“The victim did not find out the money was missing for another couple of days,” the prosecutor said.
![Solicitor Mario Vaccaro Solicitor Mario Vaccaro](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/CXnecSe9En4WWrpX4sC8Fx/8bd97909-b2b4-420c-9c64-20490a01ce1f.jpg/r2128_620_3122_1978_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Solicitor Mario Vaccaro said Lyons’ methamphetamine use led to a need to steal the money.
“She was affected by her drug usage at the time and she is doing something about that,” he said.
“She now has herself free of ice, she has provided drug screens.”
The victim was in court to watch the case unfold.
Both sides disputed whether part of the $800 had been paid back.
Lyons claimed she had already handed over $350 in cash, but the victim said that was towards the purchase of a car, not the stolen money.
“She intends to pay back the rest of the amount,” Mr Vaccaro said.
He said Lyons, a single mother-of-three, had been cut off from her Centrelink payments because she missed an appointment.
Magistrate Stella Stuthridge ruled the woman had to pay the full amount of $800 back through the court.
She placed Lyons on a five-month good behaviour bond with the condition she see a GP about her previous drug use.
The women stayed apart for the length of the hearing until the victim had some words to say in Lyons’ ear on her way out of court.
In a separate case at Wodonga Magistrates’ Court, a teenager was also placed on a five-month good behaviour bond for drug driving.
The court heard Wahgunyah man, Jordan Bradfield, 18, was seen driving out of control on Victoria Street, Wahgunyah, on June 20.
The NSW P-plate driver tested positive for cannabis.
“He seemed to be swerving in his lane, at one stage swerving into the opposite lane,” the prosecutor said.
“Six days after this, he was issued with a traffic infringement notice for an identical offence.”
Mr Vaccaro said Bradfield started using cannabis this year, but stopped after his second drug driving offence.
Ms Stuthridge also disqualified the teenager from driving for six months.