Women Charged Over Needles In Strawberries Saga Motivated By “Revenge”, Court Told
My Ut Trinh is facing up to ten years imprisonment if found guilty.
The fruit tampering scandal that caused a country-wide scare a few weeks ago has finally had a breakthrough, with a 50-year-old woman charged overnight with multiple counts of contamination of goods.
My Ut Trinh, who also goes by the name Judy, faced Brisbane Magistrates court earlier today after she was charged with seven counts of contamination of goods with intent to cause economic loss. Trinh could face up to ten years behind bars if she is found guilty of acting with “aggravation” which is being alleged by prosecutors.
Trinh was an employee at the Berry Licious/Berry Obsession farm facilities in southeast Queensland back in September when the first foreign objects were discovered in strawberry punnets, kicking off a wave of alleged copycats that spread country-wide seeing prices plummet and mounds of strawberries thrown out.
Trinh’s lawyer Michael Cridland originally applied for bail ahead of the court hearing today but has since rescinded it whilst the motivation behind the alleged tampering becomes clear. The current case being put forward to magistrate Christine Roney “is that she was motivated by some fight or revenge”.
According to the ABC, prosecutors also sought to refuse bail and keep Trinh locked up for her own safety as “there may be retribution from people seeking to locate her”, according to Prosecutor Cheryl Tesch.
The court also heard that Trinh’s DNA was found in a punnet of strawberries in Victoria. She will remain behind bars until her case resumes later this month.