6 women behaving badly face the Gympie court
From drugs to stealing, to violence and breaching bail, these local mothers and grandmothers found themselves before the court this month
Gympie
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HERE are six Gympie region mums and grandmothers that have faced the Gympie Magistrates Court this month for various offences.
1. Young mum in court after attacking her mother and sister
A Gympie mother-of-six who contravened a police protection order twice in seven days, first by pushing and fighting with her sister and later her mother landed in Gympie court this week.
On April 30, the 26-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was asked by her sister to leave their house over a disagreement about the defendant’s children, which led to a fight.
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The woman soon started screaming, pushed her sister’s head and then poked her forcefully with two fingers to her head.
Five days later, on May 5, police were called to the house, where the young mum lives with her mother, siblings, and her six children, after an argument broke out between the defendant and her mother.
When they argued she shoved past her mother who was in the doorway, leaving marks on her arm.
2. Gympie mum’s drug “experiment” lands her in court
A Gympie region woman busted with marijuana plants in her backyard had decided to “experiment” with growing the drug during the COVID-19 restrictions.
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Police searched Jennifer Maiyeng Wu’s Cooloola Cove home on July 2 and found 6.63g of marijuana, an electric pipe, nicotine and a restricted drug imported from Vanuatu.
The 44-year-old mother was not home, but her partner and 12-year-old son were there for the search, and her partner denied knowing about some of the items and drugs seized.
Wu pleaded guilty to producing marijuana, possessing marijuana, possessing an electric pipe, unlawful possession of nicotine and unlawful possession of a restricted drug in Gympie Magistrates Court this week.
3. Gympie mum unknowingly harboured stolen motorbike
A woman will have to pay $1800 after a motorbike taken from a ute in South Australia was found in her shipping container more than a decade later, when a new owner tried to register it and discovered it was stolen.
The Gympie woman, Julie Ann Queen, did not steal the motorcycle, but stored it in a shipping container after it turned up at her house one day, left by a visitor.
Queen, 51, did not know who left the motorcycle or that it was stolen, but the court heard that several people involved in drugs would leave suspect items on her large property over the years.
Queen pleaded guilty to possession of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent in Gympie Magistrates Court this week.
“I didn’t steal it and I don’t know who did,” Queen told Magistrate Chris Callaghan.
4. Mum pawned generator stolen from neighbour’s shed
A mum who traded a stolen generator for cash at a Gympie pawn shop said she did not know where it came from when she was asked to make the trade for her partner.
On February 20, Kim Louise Martin, 43, and her partner attended Cash and Stock Traders Gympie in Mary Street to trade in a generator that had been stolen from a shed at Victory Heights.
Martin said she was asked to make the transaction and sign for it because they needed ID, and her partner did not have a licence, and she sold the generator for $175.
Martin, who is a mother to a 10-month-old, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court this week, and her partner will appear in court again on August 31.
5. Pregnant mum on 80 charges cries as Gympie court denies bail
A pregnant Gympie mum facing 80 charges had a “fairly chaotic life” at the time of the alleged offences, which include several counts of supplying meth, stealing and breaching bail.
Tamika Rae Geiger, 24, appeared in the Gympie Magistrates Court dock this month to apply for bail, and was supported by her family and 4-year-old child in the courtroom.
Ms Geiger’s long list of charges included 33 alleged breaches of bail conditions, and three alleged failure to appear charges.
Ms Geiger alleged offences include supplying drugs, fraud, receiving tainted property, failure to comply with police direction to stop vehicle, driving without a licence and never having held a licence, supplying drugs, supplying weapons, unlawful possession of suspected stolen property, failure to dispose of needles and syringes, stealing, possession of utensils and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
6. Tin Can Bay grandma caught on CCTV stealing
A grandmother caught stealing a wallet full of cash from a Tin Can Bay store had a history of stealing dating back to the 1970s, a Gympie court has been told.
Debra Anne Pedley, 61, stole a wallet containing $270 cash which had been left by a customer at a Tin Can Bay newsagency on March 18.
The victim, a customer served before Pedley, accidentally left his wallet behind, and after completing her transaction Pedley walked past it, placed her hand over it while holding other items to hide it, and picked it up.
Magistrate Maxine Baldwin told the court Pedley had a history of stealing dating back to 1977 and had been jailed for three weeks on one occasion.
“Are you a kleptomaniac?” Ms Baldwin asked Pedley, who replied that she did not think she was.
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