Heroin trafficker (27) tells judge she can get ‘really paranoid’ as she gets probation

Appearing at Newry Crown Court by videolink from the women’s prison on Friday, Kristina Ponisi was offered the chance of an enhanced combination order of community service and probation which would see the 27-year-old set free but under strict supervision.

She told Judge Gordon Kerr KC that sometimes “I get really paranoid” so she was worried that might impinge on her ability to complete the orders but given a choice between the ECO and a further period in prison, she opted for two years on probation and 80 hours community service.

Ponisi, from from Irwell Court in Belfast, had earlier admitted importing heroin and simple possession of the class A drug on 6 June 2021.

She was arrested alongside her then boyfriend, fellow heroin addict 40-year-old John Joseph Goodman, from Glenbawn Close in Dunmurry.

Previous courts heard how cops stopped an Audi car on the A1 - Goodman driving and Ponisi his passenger.

A police sniffer dog discovered a specially constructed hide which contained a tin of deodorant and it was inside that where cops uncovered the 52% pure heroin, estimated to have a street value around £15,000.

Last December Goodman, who had admitted guilt on the same charges, was handed a two year sentence split half and half between jail and custody.

Sentencing Ponisi on Friday, Judge Kerr said he was taking into account her guilty pleas and previously clear record.

He warned Ponisi however that if she breached any aspect of the order, failed to comply with probation instructions or committed further offences, she would be brought back before him “and I assure you, you will be given a custodial sentence.”

In addition, the judge also ordered forfeiture of £303 in cash which cops had seized.