LIST: Co-offender couples of southeast Queensland
These loved-up couples faced their court dates hand-in-hand, proving true romance isn’t always a match made in heaven. Some quickly parted ways after their offences were uncovered, while others still stand firm in their love. LIST
Police & Courts
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From longstanding marriages to drug-fuelled flings, we’re taking a look at the romantic duos who have fronted southeast Queensland’s courts in recent years.
Some quickly parted ways after their offences were uncovered, while others still stand firm in their love for one another.
Multiple studies over recent decades have found that marriage generally reduces offenders’ likelihood of reoffending, as it often encourages a desire for stability.
However, more recent studies have found this effect is often limited in relationships where both parties have a history of offending.
A 2014 US study found offending was actually found to increase in cases where one partner coerced the other into illegal activity, or emotional stresses within the relationship triggered relapses in offending.
The study found couples made up of two former offenders could better understand and support each other in their rehabilitation efforts – if both partners were determined to turn their lives around.
Whatever their motivation or background, the couples on this list chose to commit their offences together.
Meet the loved up couples who fronted southeast Queensland courts hand-in-hand:
CONVICTIONS RECORDED:
MAJOK CHOL & ALEXIS HINTON
A young Logan couple fronted court last year after their Woodridge home was raided as part of ANOM, Australia’s largest police drug bust.
On June 7, 2021, police uncovered 3.45kg of cannabis packed into clip-seal bags throughout their home, along with $19,000 cash and incriminating text messages.
Over a year later, Alexis Jade Hinton, 23, and Majok Chol, 25, pleaded guilty in Beenleigh District Court to possession of dangerous drugs over 500g and possession of proceeds suspected of being used in a drug offence.
The court heard the couple shared two children, and Hinton was pregnant with a third child at the time of sentence.
Her lawyer told the court his client had started smoking cannabis to treat her back pain after a car crash.
However, Judge David Kent KC said the way the drugs were packaged showed a clear intent to supply.
Hinton was sentenced to 12 months in prison, and Chol was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Both were granted immediate parole release, and convictions were recorded.
PARIS DEAN-ROGERS & HARLEY PASCOE
A Sunshine Coast couple fronted court on separate dates after their “amateurish” armed robbery attempt turned sideways.
Paris Jag Dean-Rogers pleaded guilty in Maroochydore District Court in August 2019 to the attempted armed robbery, which occurred in April 2018.
The court heard the teenager had discovered she was pregnant with her co-offender’s child while she was in custody on remand.
Her now ex-boyfriend Harley Norman Jon Pascoe faced court three months later for the same offence, along with a $100,000 arson – which Dean-Rogers was not involved in.
The court heard the duo had targeted a Marcoola fruit and convenience store, with Pascoe pretending to hold Dean-Rogers hostage at knifepoint and demanding the cashier hand over money.
However, the pair left empty-handed after the cashier signalled to someone outside, and police located them soon after, smoking outside a nearby hotel.
Dean-Rogers’ 102 days in custody were declared time already served, and she was released on probation for two years.
Pascoe received a probation order for the attempted robbery, with 131 days declared as pre-sentence custody.
In addition, he was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment, suspended immediately, for the arson which caused 13 people to evacuate a Maroochydore unit.
FAY & ZDRAVKO PAVLIC-SAHIN
A Sunshine Coast woman roped her husband into her “mastermind” plot involving a mysterious house fire and decade-old insurance scam.
Fay Frances Pavlic-Sahin, 68, and Zdravko Michael Pavlic-Sahin, 51, both pleaded guilty to one count each of fraud, and dishonestly gaining benefit of over $30,000.
Fay Pavlic-Sahin pleaded guilty to an additional charge of arson.
The court heard the couple had been struggling financially, so Frances went behind her husband’s back to arrange for her son to burn their house down.
Zdravko Pavlic-Sahin faced a conundrum three weeks later when his wife of 20 years confessed to the plan.
He chose to stick by his wife, and made transactions to their “hired arsonist” to start the blaze – for which they received an insurance payout of almost $240,000.
The offending itself occurred in 2009, but renewed police investigations saw them charged in 2016.
At their March 2018 sentence, Fay Pavlic-Sahin received a head sentence of two years and eight months jail, with parole release after three months.
Zdravko Pavlic-Sahin received 18 months imprisonment, with parole release after three months.
JONATHON & KATHLEEN GREY
A former Gold Coast couple reaped lavish rewards on the back of a sophisticated dark web drug trafficking operation.
The married couple, Jonathon and Kathleen Grey, operated their drug business for more than a year out of their Helensvale home, which had a separate grow house for cannabis.
The court heard the duo had advertised on the dark web using bitcoin cryptocurrency and encryption software, along with post office boxes set up under false names.
Their business profile showed they had fulfilled more than 600 orders and generated a turnover of more than $400,000; however, it was estimated at least 2084 orders were placed.
The couple were living a lavish lifestyle with four properties, a Porsche and a BMW, before police seized $211,225 worth of cannabis plants from their home.
They both pleaded guilty in 2019 to trafficking and producing dangerous drugs, and Jonathon Grey also pleaded guilty to forging and uttering documents.
Jonathon Grey was sentenced to nine years in jail, with parole eligibility on August 21, 2021.
At the time, 430 of his days in presentence custody were declared time-served, but that was later changed to 446 days time-served on appeal.
Kathleen Grey was sentenced to six years jail, with parole eligibility on November 27, 2019, and 615 days in presentence custody declared time-served.
RANI HAMILTON & TYLA MILLER
A teen and his 46-year-old girlfriend hatched a drug trafficking scheme after the duo began living together.
Tyla Miller, 19, had been repainting Rani Sherrette Hamilton’s home when she discovered he was homeless and invited him to move in with her.
A court heard Miller was the “sales representative” and Hamilton was the “investor” in the drug scheme that followed.
Hamilton had supplied Miller and another co-accused with the funds to buy 2.5 pounds of cannabis – which they supplied in smaller amounts to 29 people, on 69 occasions within a two-month period.
Police searched their Buderim home in May 2017, and uncovered 143g of cannabis and incriminating text messages.
The duo both pleaded guilty in Maroochydore District Court to trafficking cannabis just over a year later.
In court, Miller mouthed “what the f---?” to Hamilton after her defence barrister said Miller had influenced his client to start using cannabis “in her rush to be loved and accepted” after a violent relationship.
Both Miller and Hamilton received a sentence of 18 months imprisonment, with immediate parole release.
KYLE HIRST & RACHEL ROESELER
An Ipswich couple parted ways to rehabilitate themselves after they teamed up in a violent assault on a landlord in 2021.
Rachel Elise Roeseler, 26, and her ex-boyfriend Kyle Lars Hirst pleaded guilty on separate dates at Ipswich Magistrates Court to assault occasioning bodily harm in company.
Roesler pleaded guilty to an additional count of wilful damage.
The court heard the duo had intervened in a rental dispute between Roesler’s mum and her landlord by driving out to the Brightview unit and trashing the place.
After the landlord was called to the scene, Hirst punched him repeatedly in the head and Roeseler slapped him on the other side – resulting in a broken jaw.
Roeseler moved to the Northern Territory to reform herself as a youth worker after the assault, while Hirst remained in Ipswich and strived to abstain from drug use.
Roeseler was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years.
Hirst was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, with immediate parole release and 159 days of presentence custody declared time served.
HOPE KENNEDY-TILSE & DYLAN LLOYD
An Ipswich couple brutally beat a man with a pool cue at a local shopping centre over a minor neighbourhood dispute.
Dylan Lloyd had argued with his neighbour and enlisted his girlfriend Hope Allirra Kaye Kennedy-Tilse to help attack the man later that day.
Kennedy-Tilse hid a shortened pool cue in her sleeve and handed it to Lloyd, who struck him several times with it.
Kennedy-Tilse also kicked him in the head repeatedly after the man fell back onto the ground.
Lloyd received a two and a half year jail sentence in late 2021 for the assault, aged 24 at the time, and was released after 256 days in custody.
Kennedy-Tilse didn’t front court until February 2023, by which time she was just weeks away from giving birth.
She was sentenced to two years imprisonment wholly suspended for three years – having spent 321 days in custody, which could not be declared time-served.
TIMOTHY LESTER & LUCY THEYERS
A married Springfield Lakes couple fronted court last year after police found a cannabis growing area under their suburban house.
Timothy James Lester and his wife Lucy Jane Theyers both pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court to a swath of drug charges including trafficking dangerous drugs.
The court heard the duo had trafficked cannabis for just under three months in 2020.
They made 57 transactions to 20 customers in that time — selling a total of approximately 4kg of cannabis for around $17,000.
Lester was the main operator, and pleaded guilty to additional charges relating to him possessing the phones used to make transactions.
The court heard Lester had taken over the drug business from a friend and Theyers, the mother of his two children, had assisted.
Lester received a suspended two-year jail sentence, and Theyers received a suspended 18 month jail sentence.
ALYCE MARGERISON & IGNNATIUS ONYENAKASA
A $240,000 phishing scam saw an Ipswich couple front court last year for fraud and money laundering.
The scam involved fraudulent invoices being sent to businesses, before money was deposited into the couples’ bank accounts.
Ignnatius Chigaeme Onyenakasa and his wife Alyce Leanne Margerison were not the organisers of the scam, but profited from the large quantities of money deposited in their accounts.
Throughout 2018, the couple received a total $239,634.40 and withdrew or spent $109,624.40 on mostly “household expenses”.
The court heard Onyenakasa was a disability support worker, and Margerison was the stay at home mum of their two children.
They both received a two-year jail sentence, which was wholly suspended.
MANDY MICHEELSEN & JACOB O’KEEFE
Police found $10,000 bundles of cash and more than 1kg of cannabis in this Ipswich couple’s home, after receiving local tip-offs of cannabis dealing.
Mandy Jane Micheelsen and Jacob Neil O’Keefe, parents to two children, both pleaded guilty in November 2022 to a swath of drug charges including possessing dangerous drugs (schedule 2, with a quantity exceeding schedule 3).
When police searched their Brassall home in 2021, they uncovered $36,350 cash along with 1.295kg of cannabis, which had a street value of up to $32,375.
Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren said the packaging of the cash suggested it was associated with drug sales, but the couple was not charged with drug trafficking or supply.
Both O’Keefe and Micheelson received a wholly suspended sentence of 15 months imprisonment.
ISIKELI & MALAVINE PULINI
A Brisbane couple were jailed in 2019 for “compromising” a Fijian woman’s human rights.
Isikeli Feleatoua Pulini, 60, and Malavine Pulini, 48, pleaded guilty to harbouring an illegal non-citizen, and were found guilty at trial of forced labour offences.
Malavine Pulini was also convicted for human trafficking.
The court heard the Fijian woman was forced to work for the couple from 2008 to 2016 for about $250 per fortnight, after she moved with them from Tonga.
After arriving in Australia, they took her passport from her, and she later became scared she might be sent to prison after her tourist visa expired.
Her victim impact statement revealed how she felt “helpless” and like she was “treated as a slave”.
Isikeli Pulini was sentenced to five years imprisonment and Malavine Pulini was sentenced to six years imprisonment, both with a non-parole period of two years.
KRISTY SMITH & CONAN TAYLOR
An Ipswich couple fronted court as co-accused for their roles in the brutal beating of a meth dealer that owed them money.
Conan Sol Taylor carried out the violent assault, in which he attacked the dealer with a steel table leg at in 2020.
His girlfriend Kristy Ann Smith had invited the dealer to their Brassall home.
After the beating, Smith drove the dealer in his own car to an ATM to withdraw funds, but he came up short.
She left him at a service station and continued using his car throughout the following days.
Smith pleaded guilty to stealing and unlawfully using a motor vehicle, and was sentenced to 12 months probation
Taylor pleaded guilty to more than 20 offences, including assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, dangerous operation of a vehicle, and failing to remain at the scene of an incident.
He was convicted and not further punished, with 588 days of presentence custody taken into account.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED:
STEPHEN BAKUNOWICH & KELLY DALGLEISH
An Ipswich couple ran a successful nursery business supplying plants to Bunnings – before police busted them growing something more illicit on the side.
Kelly Jean Dalgleish and her husband Stephen Brendan Bakunowich were caught with the crop of illegal cannabis plants, along with guns, fireworks and more than $80,000 cash when police raided their Mount Edwards property in 2020.
The police found almost 150 cannabis plants, along with several containers containing further quantities of cannabis weighing a total 4.823kg.
Dalgleisha and Bakunowich each pleaded guilty to producing dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs, possessing anything used in the commission of a crime, unlawful possession of weapons, and authority required to possess explosives.
The court heard the couple were married, had two children together, and were now focusing primarily on their knife sales business.
The couple were each fined $4000 for the drug production charge, and convicted and not further punished for the remaining charges, with no convictions recorded.
RACHAEL BOMAN & CASEY TIMM
An engaged Ipswich couple appeared as co-accused last year on a swath of drug charges including possessing cocaine, possessing cannabis, and producing cannabis.
Yeppoon man Casey James Stanley Timm pleaded guilty to additional charges including trafficking cannabis and possessing a phone and money related to the trafficking.
The court heard police busted the couple’s home in 2020 and uncovered 685.8g of cannabis, 1.585g of pure cocaine, three cannabis plants, an “unsophisticated” hydroponic set-up, and $13,000 cash.
Timm made admissions to owning the cannabis plants at the time, and his fiance Rachael Patricia Boman told the police some of the cannabis was for her personal use.
Police uncovered incriminating messages on Timm’s phone that proved he had been trafficking the cannabis also.
Timm received two years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended, with convictions recorded.
Boman received 12 months’ probation, with no convictions recorded.
SHAMEKA LEEDING & JAKE QUINN
A Toowoomba couple were so determined to have sex in the courthouse foyer, they had to be reprimanded by staff three times before they finally gave up and left.
Around 9.40am on June 28, Shameka Julie Leeding was captured on CCTV kissing her boyfriend Jake James Quinn “vigorously” in a public waiting area.
She then moved on top of him and started to have intercourse.
The couple was repeatedly stopped by security, but quickly resumed their efforts each time as soon as they were alone again.
They both pleaded guilty a month later to committing an indecent act in any place to which the public are permitted access.
The court heard their actions “weren’t planned” and that they had simply been overcome with the “exuberance of youth”.
They were each sentenced to 60 hours of community service, and no convictions were recorded.
XIAOQIU LIU & ROBERT NICHOLSON
This Brisbane couple hired motel rooms out to prostitutes for 18 months before realising what they were doing was illegal.
Robert William Nicholson and Xiaoqiu Liu were site manages for a Brisbane motel, and owned several other facilities across the state.
The court heard they hired rooms out to several prostitutes, but never profited from the prostitution itself – only from the room fees.
Nicholson and Liu both pleaded guilty in April 2021 to four counts each of having an interest in premises used for the purpose of prostitution.
Defence barrister Chris Wilson told the court “neither of them thought what they were doing was illegal,” and that they immediately stopped when they realised.
The couple were each fined $2000, with no conviction recorded.
JASMINE PALMER & JESSE WYLIE CLARKE
A young Ipswich couple faced court last year after they lured a man into an isolated location to steal his car.
Jasmine Palmer and her boyfriend Jesse Wylie-Clark arranged to meet with the victim in a remote location in Laidley, but showed up late and the man fell asleep in his car.
He then woke to them shining a torch in his face and yelling to get out of the car.
They took the car and drove off. Police later found it abandoned and identified the couple through DNA.
Palmer pleaded guilty to three counts of stealing, two of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, one of wilful damage, one of entering a premises and stealing, and one of unlawfully entering a car with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Wylie-Clarke pleaded guilty on a separate date to entering a premises and committing an indictable offence, unlawfully using a motor vehicle, and unlawfully entering a motor vehicle with intent at night.
Palmer was sentenced to probation for a period of three years and no convictions were recorded.
Wylie-Clarke was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with immediate parole release and 579 days presentence custody declared time-served.
FULL STORY
KANA PATRICK & BONNIE ROBINSON
A Sunshine Coast couple stole over $1300 worth of toys and clothes from Myer to “make their kids happy”.
Kana Samuel Patrick pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing, as his wife Bonnie Ann Robinson pleaded guilty to one count of stealing.
The court heard a Myer Maroochydore employee had uncovered their offending when reviewing CCTV footage and spotting Patrick concealing items on his person before leaving without paying for them.
Robinson could also be seen holding items above her head as she passed through theft detectors at the store exit.
The court heard Patrick had “significant history as a thief”.
In court, he initially denied being at the store in question, before admitting he was lying.
Patrick received two months in jail on each stealing charge, wholly suspended for two years, and Robinson and fined $300.
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