Amanda Jane Bornen pleads guilty to 47 charges including stealing, fraud

Stretching from Proserpine to Ipswich, a vulnerable mum who had been living in a refuge left a trail of unpaid bills in a series of petrol drive-offs.

An Ipswich mother of four has been sentenced on nearly 50 charges including multiple fuel drive-offs on a 1000km journey from the state’s tropical north.

Ipswich Magistrates Court this week heard Amanda Bornen left a long list of unpaid bills between Proserpine and Ipswich.

Bornen, a 33-year-old Goodna mother of four children aged between 8-16, went before Ipswich Magistrates Court, where she pleaded guilty to 47 charges including 21 counts of stealing; one count of stealing after previous conviction; enter premises by break to steal at Christ Housing Services in Bundamba on February 2; five counts of fraud; attempted fraud; possession of dangerous drugs (methylamphetamine); possession of property used in a drug offence; possession of drug utensils; failing to appear; number plate attached when registration cancelled; and breaches of bail.

Her criminal history in NSW, SA and Queensland was tended to the court.

Police also sought restitution of more than $700.

Prosecutor Sergeant Nicholas Turnbull said Bornen was a recidivist offender.

He said she committed repeated petrol drive-offs and her online frauds were premeditated.

The court heard her petrol drive-offs included $25 at Churchill on August 13 last year, $50.02 at North Ipswich on October 18, $58 at Marsden on November 3, and $79.55 at Proserpine on December 21.

Amanda Jane Bornen, 33, pleaded guilty to nearly 50 charges.

Defence barrister Terry Strong said Bornen was a former Coffee Club manager and had a mortgage and normal family life but suffered domestic violence and lived in a women’s refuge.

Her long-term partner ran off with her best friend, but he had since been sentenced to prison.

Mr Strong said Bornen’s car had been stolen, and while this was no excuse for her offending, it provided some context.

He said Bornen was now off drugs and alcohol.

Magistrate David Shepherd said Bornen’s frauds were committed on public sites such as Facebook marketplace and ebay, where Bornen advertised products for sale.

People paid money into her bank account but did not receive the goods.

“A crime spree is not the way to deal with these things,” he said.

Bornen received various jail orders of six months, five months, two months, and one month. All were suspended for 18 months.

She was sentenced to a supervised two-year probation order on the fraud and drug related charges.