A Sculllin woman was remanded in custody on Saturday after police alleged she set fire to a stolen Subaru in O'Connor to rid the car of potentially incriminating evidence.
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Stacey Ann Miller, 40, faced court on charges of arson and perverting the course of justice after police alleged she was heard during an intercepted telephone call on Wednesday, September 20, telling a friend that her fingerprints were in a vehicle, she would get rid of the vehicle and she would take care of it.
In the statement of facts tendered to the court, the white Subaru XV had been reported stolen from a Ngunnawal home on August 5. Police alleged the same car was later involved in a number of dangerous road incidents, including failing to stop for police and colliding with other cars.
On Sunday September 17, the defendant had been captured on CCTV leaving the passenger's seat of the vehicle at Bunnings Belconnen.
On Wednesday, the same car allegedly was then seen outside the defendant's Scullin home.
It had been driven to O'Connor where the Subaru was later set on fire. In a phone call that evening, the defendant allegedly said to a friend: "I lost my face, it caught on fire".
On Friday, police were granted a search warrant on the defendant's Scullin home. Miller was found in the bedroom, where she allegedly had a "fresh red burn-style injury to her cheek".
Medical items such as burn cream, a gauze swab package and antiseptic cream were found in the bedroom.
Police alleged that Miller's actions in setting fire to the car were an attempt to destroy evidence that may be used against her and a co-defendant and therefore was a perversion of justice.
The defendant declined to participate in a record of interview.
It was noted by Magistrate Robert Cook during the Saturday court hearing that that Miller had been granted an 18-month good behaviour bond in December last year.
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A serial offender, Miller also had been granted bail in July last year after she admitted driving while disqualified, failing to stop for police, drink-driving with four times the legal permitted limit of alcohol, driving over two traffic islands and crashing into a fence in Higgins.
In the application for bail on the latest charges, the court was told Miller had two children who depended on her and she was an Aboriginal woman who was "well known to the Aboriginal Legal Service for her work in the community".
However, Magistrate Cook noted the concerns of the prosecution, who opposed bail on the basis of the alleged offender's likelyhood to reoffend.
Miller was remanded in custody to reappear on October 16.
