Underworld widow seeks help on theft count

Underworld widow Wendy Peirce has sought psychiatric help since the 2009 death of her daughter, a court has been told.

Peirce, the widow of underworld hitman Victor Peirce who was shot dead in 2002, is charged with stealing more than $1200 worth of groceries and products from a Coles supermarket in St Kilda in January last year.

Her lawyer, Victor Andreou, told the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday that the 54-year-old had been receiving treatment from psychologists and psychiatrists as well as a local support group in Port Phillip since the sudden death of her daughter Katie.

He said Peirce was in jail when she received the news of her 24-year-old daughter’s death and had since sought help from mental health professionals.

Peirce had been serving a six-month sentence for threatening and stalking her late husband’s former lovers, using Facebook to tell one of the women that she planned to blow her head off.

Mr Andreou asked that the matter be referred to the court’s Assessment and Referral Court (ARC) list, a special list for accused people suffering a mental illness or cognitive impairment.

Magistrate Kay Robertson said while Peirce had suffered “a tragic loss”, the list was designed for people with special needs.

“The ARC list is a list that provides almost continual supervision by a judicial officer,” she said.

“I don’t see how your client would benefit from that.”

Ms Robertson adjourned the matter to August 8, when another magistrate will determine whether the matter will proceed on the ARC list or with a plea or sentence indication.

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