Britney McLennan: Supreme Court overturns Townsville armed-robbery conviction

A mum-of-three has had a conviction overturned for her alleged role in a bizarre armed robbery of a drive-through bottle shop in a taxi in Townsville.

Britney Alana McLennan, aged in her early 20s, spent 12 months in custody on remand before she was found guilty and convicted in the Townsville District Court for alleged involvement in the knifepoint robbery of BWS Kirwan in August, 2022. The conviction has been overturned. Picture: Supplied

A young mother-of-three has had a conviction overturned for her alleged role in a bizarre armed robbery of a drive-through bottle shop in a taxi in Townsville.

Britney Alana McLennan, aged in her early 20s, spent 12 months in custody on remand before she was found guilty and convicted in the Townsville District Court for alleged involvement in the knifepoint robbery of BWS Kirwan in August, 2022.

McLennan was jailed in December that same year for three years with immediate parole to help her raise her children in Bowen (LINK).

Following a hearing in the Court of Appeal in Brisbane in September, justices David Boddice and Susan Brown allowed McLennan’s appeal against conviction of armed robbery in company, overturned the jury verdict and ordered a new trial.

The defendant, represented by Legal Aid Queensland, argued successfully that the verdict was not supported by the evidence and that a miscarriage of justice had occurred because of errors by the trial judge.

Following a hearing in the Court of Appeal in Brisbane in September, justices David Boddice and Susan Brown allowed Britney McLennan’s appeal against conviction of armed robbery in company, overturned the jury verdict and ordered a new trial. Picture: Supplied

The written decision outlines the facts of the case, which began when a taxi driver picked up three females, including McLennan, and a male from a private address in Kirwan on August 28.

After first visiting Brothers Leagues Club, the driver is asked to head to the drive-through with the taxi parking outside while the four enter the bottle shop.

Justices Boddice and Brown in the Supreme Court in Brisbane found that the verdict of the jury against Britney Mclennan was not unreasonable but the trial judge failed to “properly direct” the jurists, which amounted to a “miscarriage of justice”. Picture: Supplied

The ruling says that when all four returned to the taxi, one of the three females sitting in the back of the vehicle was holding two bottles of spirits.

“One said to the male, in the front seat, that he had just done an armed holdup. The male said they were ‘talking shit’ and there was no armed holdup,” it says.

“At that point, [the driver] noticed a knife in the male’s lap.”

The ruling says that as the driver left, “he looked back to see if there were any alarms going off” but that “nothing like that happened”.

“He returned the four people back to the address in Kirwan.”

It was also heard during the trial that the male had threatened to slit the throat of the BWS employee on duty during the robbery and that McLennan had said she would get a “nephew to bash” him.

However, the court was also told that the employee accepted that McLennan had apologised to him during the robbery, saying: “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he had a knife.”

“[The employee] accepted that he only became aware that the appellant had earlier taken some bottles of alcohol from the back room, after he had watched the CCTV footage from the store.”

The ruling said that the defence, “submitted that there was no evidence of a common intention to steal”.

“Further, there was no evidence the appellant was aware of the presence of the knife.”

Justices Boddice and Brown found that the verdict of the jury was not unreasonable but the trial judge failed to “properly direct” the jurists, which amounted to a “miscarriage of justice”.

Originally published as Britney McLennan: Supreme Court overturns Townsville armed-robbery conviction