Jayde Elizabeth Ireland in court after hardware store holdup

A “highly skilled” Queensland boilermaker had been loitering outside a business block for five days before a terrifying hardware store holdup.

Jayde Elizabeth Ireland, 37, appeared via videolink in Bundaberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday January 8, 2024.

A Rockhampton woman spent more than five months in jail for multiple crimes, including threatened staff at a Bundaberg hardware store with a modified toy gun.

Jayde Elizabeth Ireland, 37, appeared via videolink in Bundaberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday January 8, 2024.

She pleaded guilty to one count of entering a premises with intent, going armed so as to cause fear, possessing utensils, contravening a police direction, entering a premises and committing an offence, and four counts of breaching bail.

The court heard the boiler maker had spent almost a week loitering the front of the Bundaberg Mitre 10 in July of 2023, abusing staff, and neighbouring businesses.

Police prosecutor Carl Spargo told the court the loitering escalated on July 15, when she followed staff into the store.

“The defendant effectively had some interactions with the staff there, which became aggravated, with the defendant saying ‘if you have a f — ing problem, come out here,’” he said.

Ireland then pulled a toy gun from a suitcase she had been carrying, of which the orange tip had been removed so that it looked like a real gun.

Staff at the Bundaberg hardware store believed the toy gun was real.

“Independent witnesses observed what appeared to be a firearm in her hands and they thought it was real,” Sergeant Spargo told the court.

It heard Ireland continued yelling at the staff before snapping the gun in two and throwing it on the counter.

Legal representative Matt Maloy appeared for Ireland and said she had battled ongoing drug and alcohol abuse which had escalated after the death of her partner in 2019.

“She has struggled with substance abuse for some time and her criminal history and traffic history are indicative of some significant struggles,” he said.

The court heard Ireland had a positive work history as an in-demand boiler maker, but had broken into a bottle shop to steal alcohol to feed her addiction.

“The comments to one of my colleagues was that she wanted to go back in (to jail) because she couldn’t stay clean while she was out,” Mr Maloy told the court.

The court heard Jayde Ireland was in-demand as a skilled boilermaker.

Magistrate Edwina Rowan was sympathetic to Ireland’s struggles to stay clean, and said positive comments to her work history with her “skills in high demand.”

Ireland was sentenced to 15 months jail for the enter premise with intent charge, 15 months for going armed, seven days for each count of breaching bail, nine months for break and enter to be served concurrently, and convicted but not further punished on the remaining charges.

Five months and three days of presentence custody were declared time served, and Ireland was released on parole.

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