Marlia Thornbury jailed after stealing in Bathurst to feed meth habit

Marlia Thornbury of Cummings Street, West Bathurst was jailed for 18 months after she was sentenced in Bathurst Local Court on May 9, 2023 to a string of charges, which included:

A drug-affected Thornbury went to a friend's home on Lawson Street in West Bathurst on August 6, 2022 about 9.30am where she stole a 200 pack of cigarettes, worth $310.

"I need to go home to make sure the police aren't looking for me," Thornbury said to the man, who let her in his home to make a cup of tea.

After Thornbury ran from the home, the victim went inside to find his cigarettes, which were worth $310, had been stolen.

Police were called and arrived about 10am and got a signed statement from the victim, before they got nearby CCTV footage that showed Thornbury running from the property.

Court documents state police then went to Thornbury's home on Cummings Street in West Bathurst where she was arrested.

Thornbury told officers she stole the cigarettes from the man's house to sell for drugs - which she had already done - before she was driven to Bathurst Police Station in the back of a caged vehicle.

On a separate occasion, Thornbury approached a woman in West Bathurst just after 2.30pm on October 18, 2022 to ask if she had any "smokes".

Court papers explain the woman said no on multiple occasions, despite Thornbury's persistence, before she then asked to be driven around in the woman's silver Mazda 3 that was parked on Kelly Crescent.

"No, I really can't. Sorry," the victim said to Thornbury, who replied "nah sis, come on, give me a ride?"

Thornbury got into the woman's passenger seat without permission and said she needed to use the woman's phone to log onto her bank to see if she had enough money to buy nappies.

As the woman was driving Thornbury to a corner store on Lambert Street in Bathurst, she got the details to log onto the woman's personal mobile banking app where she made a $100 transaction between accounts "so you [victim] can get it out of the ATM for me".

Thornbury led the victim to an ATM where she withdrew the cash and gave it to Thornbury, who bought a packet of cigarettes with the money.

As the pair got to the woman's car, Thornbury lit a cigarette and asked for another $50, court documents said.

The woman went inside and got more money out to give to Thornbury, before she dropped her off at a water tower on the left-hand side of Suttor Street. It was then she noticed two five dollar notes and loose coins were missing from her centre console.

The victim gave police a statement about the incident on October 18, where she said she feared Thornbury because she didn't know what she was capable of.

Police went to Thornbury's home on Cumming's Street about 5.10pm on October 19 when a person from the Aboriginal Lands Council arrived, court papers said.

The court heard the woman said Thornbury was in a nearby house and she was there to pick her up.

After the woman was inside for five minutes without making any contact, police feared for the woman and drove their car to the nearby street.

As officers got out of their car, the woman ran from the house as Thornbury jumped over a colourbond fence into the front yard of another home.

Police searched the area with no sign of Thornbury until they spotted her in a nearby yard, before she looked at police and smiled as she climbed onto the roof of a garage.

She was surrounded by police who asked her to come down, but she refused and while standing in direct view of officers, took a glass water pipe from her shirt and began to smoke the substance she said was 'ice'.

The court heard Thornbury was eventually brought down to the ground by police, who arrested her on two outstanding warrants.

Thornbury was taken to Bathurst Police Station, where she was found to be in possession of a NAB debit card that belonged to someone else.

While in police custody, Thornbury was asked about a number of allegations and only admitted to stealing a parcel - which had knives worth $300 inside - from a woman's home in West Bathurst.

She also told police the person who owned the debit card was a relative and she was given it to buy cigarettes.

Thornbury also broke into a home on Hill Street in West Bathurst between 6pm and 8pm on February 20 where she stole $70, and again on College Road in South Bathurst on September 4 about 4.15pm where she took cleaning products.

The court heard Thornbury also stole $100 by using someone's bank details on September 10, and spent $222.38 with a man's Commonwealth Bank card on October 6 to buy cigarettes, soft drink and confectionery at the Shell Coles Express in West Bathurst and 7-Eleven Bathurst on Stewart Street.

Thornbury was also driven around in a stolen white Nissan X-Trail between 7pm on May 10, 2022 and May 11 around 8am, and also failed to appear in Bathurst Local court in October of 2022.

Solicitor Shane Cunningham told the court his client - who has been in custody since October 8, 2022 on these matters - had an extensive history with drug abuse, which first began when she was 14 only to turn chronic in her late teens.

"She committed the offences to fund her illicit substance use," Mr Cunningham said.

Mr Cunningham asked for an intensive correction order (ICO) with full time rehabilitation as a condition as an alternative to a prison term for Thornbury, given the section five threshold had "clearly been crossed".

"I'm remorseful and regret my actions," Thornbury said to the court during her appearance by audio-visual link.

Thornbury's "checkered" upbringing, as described by Magistrate D Pearce, was taken into consideration after Mr Cunningham explained she had relatives go in and out of jail throughout her childhood and had heroin addicts frequent her life.

"She's not excused but the court must balance moral culpability against the seriousness of the charges," Mr Pearce said.

"Her compulsion to steal for her habit ... she spent $300 a day to continue her meth habit. She placed her needs over other people and their property.

"Having regard to the number of matters ... there will be jail. Public safety wouldn't be met with an ICO."

Thornbury has a non-parole period of 12 months, and with the sentence backdated to when she entered custody last year, she will be eligible for release on October 7, 2023.

Once the term of prison is completed, she will be on parole for six months.

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