WAGGA LOCAL COURT
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A WOMAN already banned from driving until 2027 has pleaded guilty to getting behind the wheel five times in less than three weeks.
Carissa Margaret Hemphill, a 23-year-old mother of three, lodged the pleas through solicitor Robert Hussey in Wagga Local Court on Wednesday.
She also pleaded guilty to one count of supplying amphetamine, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and two charges related to a defective car.
Hemphill appeared in court via audio-visual link with the Emu Plains women's prison.
Police facts tendered to the court said that on May 26 Hemphill was declared a habitual (traffic) offender in Wagga Local Court and put off the road until May 25, 2027.
She has never held a driver's licence in NSW, according to police.
On July 27, Hemphill, of Kooringal, was pulled over by police in Mt Austin after they noticed a broken tail light on the green Ford Falcon she was driving.
Checks revealed she was a disqualified driver and a search of a handbag revealed seven resealable bags containing methamphetamine.
Police next stopped Hemphill on July 30 while she was driving on the Sturt Highway at Borambola.
The Falcon that time had two bald tyres and an unsecured back seat.
Interviewed by police, Hemphill said she had supplied two satchels of amphetamine to a person in Tolland earlier that month and had received $200 cash.
On August 8, Hemphill was stopped about 4am on Kooringal Road driving a red Honda Accord and told police she was driving because she needed to take her son home from a friend's place.
The next day, police saw Hemphill reversing out of a driveway in Kooringal and pulled her over in Ziegler Avenue.
Undeterred by four offences now in less than two weeks and the real possibility of going to jail, Hemphill was caught driving a silver Commodore in Johnston and Tompson streets about noon on August 13.
That was enough for police and Hemphill was refused bail.
Mr Hussey told Magistrate Megan Greenwood the two weeks Hemphill had now been behind bars was her first time in custody.
He said Hemphill did not have a lengthy criminal record.
Ms Greenwood ordered a pre-sentence report on Hemphill and adjourned the case to September 24 for sentencing.