Late night Ladybird Lingerie roof walkers fined $400

Late night Ladybird Lingerie roof walkers fined $400

HOLE IN ROOF: Wild Harvest Company owner Barbara Tiplady after the June 11 incident.

"TRAUMATISED, embarrassed and apologetic."   The words rung out in Gympie Magistrates Court this week when a man and woman appeared for climbing a Reef St roof with a teenage girl, who was severely injured when she fell through the roof.  

Charged with performing unregulated high-risk activities, Frederick Charles Green, 38, and Lee-Anne Michelle Griffith, 25, hung their heads when the details of the June 11 night-time roof run on Mary St were heard in court.    It was 1.30am, and the pair had been drinking at their young female friend's house before the three walked down Mary St together.  

The Gympie man and woman and their friend used a tree outside Ladybird Lingerie to climb on to the roof of the businesses, the court heard.   When they walked across the roof to the top of the Wild Harvest Company organic food store in Reef St, the juvenile crashed through the roof and fell 5m on to concrete and rocks at the front of the shop.  

The young girl's screams from within the shop prompted the pair to jump down from the roof and call emergency.   They then bent and broke through the shop's roller door to get to their friend, the court heard.  

The girl, who had appeared to step on a brittle plastic skylight section of the roof, was taken to hospital, where she was treated for a broken arm and pelvis.   The defendants' lawyer, Matthew Post, said the pair was not only traumatised by the event, but embarrassed to be before the court - Green with a light criminal history and Griffith appearing for the first time.  

"They weren't thinking straight on the night... It all escalated very quickly," Mr Post said.   "They are both apologetic for their actions."   Magistrate J. Schubert considered the defendants' remorse and early guilty plea when he sentenced them.   "I may not need to tell you why offences like this are so serious," Mr Schubert said.  

"You've seen first hand why someone shouldn't have been climbing on the roof and the risks associated with that."   The Gympie pair was convicted and fined $400 each.   They were also ordered to pay $164.85 each in restitution to cover shop damage to be paid within three months.