Sarah Kathleen Nixon pleads guilty in Chinchilla Magistrates Court to stealing, failing to appear

A Chinchilla woman who stole a variety of meats from a local deli, as well as an RSL patron’s mobile phone while on parole, has fronted court for her thieving.

Photo Renee Pilcher / The Gympie Times

A 35-year-old Chinchilla woman with a history of theft has appeared in court for a string of charges via videolink from custody.

Sarah Kathleen Nixon pleaded guilty in Chinchilla Magistrates Court to two counts of stealing and three failures to appear in court.

Police prosecutor Chris Hutchins said Nixon’s offending spanned from November 18, 2022 up until August 22, 2023 when she was arrested on a warrant after police spotted her walking along a Toowoomba street.

The court was told that on November 18 last year, Chinchilla Police were called to the Chinchilla RSL after a patron reported their iPhone missing.

CCTV footage showed Nixon using a pokie machine sitting across from the victim and observed the victim’s phone fall to the ground.

“Police observed the defendant looking at the phone on the floor before reaching down, picking up the phone and walking away with it in her hand,” Mr Hutchins said.

She was observed walking around the pokie area and returning to her original seat before using a newspaper to conceal the stolen item as she left the area.

Nixon signed bail for her offending on February 2 where she was required to appear in Chinchilla Magistrates Court on March 9, however she failed to appear.

Six days later on March 15 police found Nixon walking in Toowoomba, where she told officers she sent an email to the court explaining her absence.

She was subsequently arrested and then released from the Toowoomba watch-house after agreeing to appear at the next court date on April 6.

However before her scheduled court date, Nixon was busted stealing a variety of meats from the Chinchilla Drakes.

On April 1, Nixon was observed picking up a whole brisket before taking it down a shop aisle and concealing it in a bag.

“The defendant has then walked back to the meat section and selected two further pieces of meat and walked back to the bag and placed it in the bag and walked out the business with the bag,” Mr Hutchins said.

Further, Nixon also failed to appear in Chinchilla court for a second time on April 6.

“She failed to appear and a warrant was issued,” Mr Hutchins said

“On 19th April police attended a disturbance and the defendant was there. She was arrested by virtue of the warrant.”

Again she was released and issued with another court date on June 22, however she failed to appear.

A month later on August 22 patrolling police immediately identified the defendant who was sitting in front of a Chinchilla fish and chip shop.

She told arresting officers she emailed the court and pleaded guilty online.

The computer system at the courthouse also revealed she was on a return to prison warrant as she was on parole during all of her offending.

Defence lawyer Michael Corbin said his client suffered from borderline personality disorder and has plans to move up to Cairns with her family to get her life back on track.

Acting magistrate Gary Finger said if Nixon was using drugs she needed to “fix that up” otherwise she will keep being arrested and charged.

“If you keep reoffending the court is going to have no other option than to lock you up, you don’t want to be there, we don’t want to send you there,” he said.

Nixon was sentenced to a total of 10 months’ imprisonment with the weeks spent in custody since August 22 being declared as time served. She was ordered to pay a total of $1306 in restitution for the stolen phone and meats.

Convictions were recorded.