Tanaya Mason pleads guilty to stealing bike worth $15k from Mackay Cycles

A drug-addicted mum, who is pregnant behind bars, tried telling police the red-haired woman who resembled her on CCTV footage stealing $15K of goods was somebody else.

Tanaya Mason pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including enter premises and commit indictable offence. Picture: Facebook

A meth-addicted mother of six tried telling police the red-haired woman who resembled her captured in CCTV footage stealing $15,000 worth of bikes was a different woman with red hair.

Officers had just found two of the five stolen bikes after raiding the Mackay home where Tanaya Mason resided.

Her explanation for that was the bikes had “turned up at her home” overnight, Mackay Magistrates Court heard.

Prosecutor Lennon Stathoulis said on March 8, 2023 offenders had smashed into Mackay Cycles at Paget stealing five bikes worth $15,000 in total.

The offending was captured on CCTV, which showed a red-haired woman in the store involved in the break and enter.

The court heard police showed the footage to Mason, who claimed it was someone else.

Mason, 28, was arrested and pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including enter premises and commit indictable offence.

The court heard she broke into Mackay Cycles with her partner and their offending was to support a drug habit.

Mason had been on parole at the time and she had a nine page criminal history.

Defence solicitor Aaron Sellentin, or Barron and Allen Lawyers, said his client had been living on the streets since age 12 when she began using speed.

The court heard she had her first child when she was 16 years old and was currently pregnant with her seventh child.

She had spent the past 87 days in custody on remand since her arrest.

Tanaya Mason pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including enter premises and commit indictable offence.

After her third child, Mason’s drug addiction spiralled and she was introduced to methylamphetamines and began injecting it intravenously.

Mr Sellentin said Mason was in a long-term relationship from 2020 to 2022 during which she birthed her fifth and sixth child and she spiralled back into shooting up meth.

He said since Mason had been in custody on remand, she had completed substance abuse and parenting programs, was working in one of the coveted job roles, and had been moved to the residential mums and bubs unit.

On her release she wanted to find stable accommodation for her and her unborn baby and was looking to move to Townsville and away from her Mackay associates “to give me and the baby a chance at life”.

Acting Magistrate Robert Turra said penalties in the past had not deterred her offending but he recognised there was a background “that’s your very sad history”.

“Living on the streets at a very young age,” Mr Turra said, adding she had been offended against “by an adult who ought to have been one of the members of the household who should have been looking after you”.

“You quickly turned to drugs.

“The running theme has been drug use through(out) your life.”

Mr Turra said Mason deserved credit for holding down a job while in custody because they were not easy to come by and acknowledged “people can change”.

Mason was jailed for 12 months, with the 87 days declared as time already served. She will be able to apply for parole on July 9, 2023.