Amanda June Watt cries in court as details of her tragic life are shared

A Nanango woman convicted of fraud and theft has avoided jail and prompted severe criticism from the magistrate of the South Burnett’s understaffed and ineffective corrective services.

Amanda June Watt pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of stealing at Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday.

A Nanango woman convicted of fraud and theft has avoided jail and prompted severe criticism from the magistrate of the South Burnett’s understaffed and ineffective corrective services.

Amanda June Watt, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of stealing when she faced Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday.

Police prosecutor Lisa Manns told the court in January 2023, Watt stole a wallet off a man she knew while staying at his house.

On a later occasion, she asked to borrow the man’s phone to make a call and then stole the phone after he went to sleep.

She then transferred money from his bank account into her own on three separate occasions totalling $1170 using his phone.

Police eventually found Watt on October 4, 2023 “hiding” beside a police car at Petrie police station in Moreton Bay, Sergeant Manns said.

Watt told police she couldn’t remember anything about the incidents because she “was on the gear,” she told the court.

The court heard Watt has been offending her entire adult life with almost 50 break and enter convictions, and had served time in prison.

“It does appear that her offending behaviour hasn’t been curved by lengthy terms of imprisonment and parole,” Sgt Manns said.

Rosegold Legal solicitor Yvette Valdez represented Watt and described her tragic life.

“She was raised solely by her mother, who was then 15 years old when she was born,” she said.

The court heard Watt had been estranged from her mother but now had “a good relationship with her” and lived with her in Nanango.

Amanda June Watt pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of stealing at Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday.

“Previous to residing with her mother, the defendant was homeless, couch surfing, sleeping on the streets.

“She is a cervical cancer survivor … she experienced domestic violence in the hands of her ex-partner of six years.

“Ms Watt has a sister who died last February from a heroin overdose.

“This has derailed her efforts at rehabilitation,” Ms Valdez said.

As Ms Valdez was sharing the story of Watt’s life, Watt could be seen crying as the prosecutor offered her a box of tissues.

The court heard Watt had suffered other abuses throughout her life.

“She does not wish to go into the details of the traumatic events due to reliving such trauma,” Ms Valdez said.

The court heard Watt was on a disability pension from her diagnosis of various mental illnesses.

Ms Valdez said Watt had been in hospital in December for abdominal abscesses and another infection “as a result of her drug use”.

The court heard her stealing and fraud was “fuelled mostly by her need to get money to buy drugs” but she had been recently engaging with councillors.

Amanda June Watt pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of stealing at Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday.

Ms Valdez asked the court to consider her steps to rehabilitation and said time in prison “would set her back”.

While magistrate Andrew Sinclair was considering his decision, he highlighted the issues with corrective services within the region.

“I know that corrective services in the South Burnett seem completely unable to have community service available … they have emailed me saying that the probation and parole office doesn’t have enough people to come to court on matters that they have initiated for breaching people.

“It doesn’t seem to be a terribly effective office out here,” Mr Sinclair said.

In regards to Watt, he said it wasn’t appropriate to give a suspended sentence to someone “who has committed offences while on parole.”

“But there’s always some hope for rehabilitation even after many years,” he said.

“An intensive correction order, I suspect in the South Burnett, will be equally as ineffective as probation orders which as far as I can tell are rarely breached and are hardly supervised … but it will give you an opportunity to show that you’ve changed your ways and to stay out of actual custody.

“I will release you on a period of six months, what is supposed to be intensive supervision by a government department that can’t even walk across the road 100m to get to court because they don’t have enough staff.

“I normally say in two hours to report to that office but there may be no one there today or no one there tomorrow so I’ll give you two days to report to them,” Mr Sinclair said.

Watt was also ordered to pay $1170 restitution, and convictions were recorded.

As they left the courtroom, Watts’s mother, who attended the hearing, breathed a sigh of relief and said “that was close.”