Mothers in Sunshine Coast courts in the past 12 months
Numerous mothers have fronted Sunshine Coast courts recently for matters ranging from serious and fatal car crashes to burglaries and assaults. See the mums who came before the courts.
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From Sunshine Coast real estate agents to a former socialite, these are some of the mothers who have been in trouble with the law across the Sunshine Coast in the past 12 months.
See the list:
Kristy Peta Towns
A Marcoola woman would not reveal the identity of her co-accused after she admitted to stealing thousands of dollars of metal from a Caloundra West business.
The court heard Kristy Peta Towns objected to even telling police what happened to the expensive property she stole from the Bronwyn St address on January 13, 2023.
The 37-year-old’s blatant burglary was heard in court this month after she pleaded guilty to entering a premises to commit an indictable offence by break, stealing, possessing dangerous drugs and contravening a police direction.
Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard Towns was involved in the theft of more than $8000 of metal.
Defence lawyer Patrick Meehan said the mother had worked in cleaning and support work in the past but had struggled with drugs during her life. She however hoped to engage in rehabilitation.
Mr Meehan said at the time of the burglary, Towns was “under the influence” of her co-accused. She was also unemployed and was unable to pay back restitution.
She was jailed for six months, which was suspended immediately for 18 months. She was also fined $600. He did not make an order for restitution as Towns had no capacity to pay it back.
Convictions were recorded.
Cianna Janette Doyle
Cianna Janette Doyle, 35, pleaded guilty to one count each of accessory after the fact to a burglary and wounding offence.
Crown prosecutor Alex Stark told the Maroochydore District Court on August 30 that the victim was an ex-partner of Doyle.
The court heard Doyle had driven to his home to recover some items with Brittany Marie Gray-Ferguson and a third co-offender on the day of the incident in 2021.
Mr Stark said the victim was sleeping when the man co-offender, wearing a black face mask, broke into his Maroochydore home before he punched and stabbed the victim several times.
Mr Stark told the court Doyle had then driven the trio to the Sunshine Plaza, where they dumped the man’s blood-soaked shirt, and Gray-Ferguson bought a replacement.
Defence barrister Jack Kennedy said his client, Doyle, was a single mother living on a large property to care for the homeowner who had lost his legs.
Judge Glen Cash sentenced Doyle to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.
Bronwyn Sherie Holcombe
Nambour mother Bronwyn Sherie Holcombe’s “blind” drunk trip to the local pub was only 1.4km long however the decision to get behind the wheel with her neighbour on September 9, 2022 altered their lives forever.
The trail of destruction was heard until late on August 2 in Maroochydore District Court following pleas of guilty to dangerous operation of a car causing grievous bodily harm while adversely affected and driving under the influence of liquor.
The court heard Holcombe, who was heavily intoxicated, claimed she wanted to walk however said her neighbour asked her to drive to the Palmwoods Hotel, which she agreed.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Marks said she drove her small Nissan Tiida with her unrestrained passenger the three minutes up the road when she failed to negotiate a bend on Chevallum Rd and crashed into another car.
Holcombe’s smaller vehicle sustained most of the damage with the crash trapping her passenger underneath the glove box, with her head and neck resting against the bottom of the seat.
The victim was rushed to the intensive care unit after she suffered multiple fractures and bleeding behind her abdominal cavity, ultimately leading to a hip replacement..
The court heard Holcombe returned a blood-alcohol content of 0.300 per cent, six times the legal limit.
Defence barrister Lily Brisick said Holcombe completed significant rehabilitation after she was charged and was deeply remorseful, even writing a letter of apology to the victim.
Holcombe was jailed for three and a half years, to be suspended after she served nine months of actual custody and was disqualified from driving for four years.
Sharlene Leticia O’Brien
Sharlene Leticia O’Brien was asked by Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin in early August what her sons would think of her role in the break in at Lifepointe Church at Buderim on June 19.
Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard O’Brien and two others entered the church’s grounds about 4.30am in a vehicle when they decided to break into a shed nearby.
The group took artificial plants for themselves.
Police prosecutor Michael Quirk said, however, the women were caught red handed at the scene by police at 4.37am.
O’Brien admitted to stealing one of the artificial plants for her home and pleaded guilty to entering a premises and committing an indictable offence.
Duty lawyer Rachel Holland said the mother of three sons was not on the right medication at the time and relapsed.
The Landsborough woman was fined $400 with no conviction recorded.
Patricia Maree Eileen Graaf
Shoppers at Big Top Shopping Centre at Maroochydore ran away from Buderim mother of 10 Patricia Maree Eileen Graaf when she started screaming and throwing objects about 1.45pm on June 14.
Police prosecutor Tara Miles told Maroochydore Magistrates Court on July 8 the centre was full of people when Graaf walked inside and began to make a scene.
The court heard security entered the centre and found Graaf who yelled “go back to your country” and “do you want to fight c---”.
Senior Constable Miles said the Buderim mother lashed out and slapped the security guard in the face and fled the scene.
She was found by police on June 20 and charged with public nuisance and common assault, which she pleaded guilty to in court.
Defence solicitor Luke Bull said the mother-of-10 hadn’t been before the court since 2016 and was “really trying” to stay out of trouble.
Mr Bull said she had one too many drinks on the afternoon of the shopping centre biff and got into an argument with her partner.
She was convicted and fined $900.
Mikka Lee Whitaker
An ex-nurse and community volunteer who attempted to face her son’s bully fronted court for her part in the confrontation outside a Cooroy home.
Mikka Lee Whitaker – also known by the last name Price – pleaded guilty in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on May 13 to one count of being a public nuisance.
Police prosecutor Michael Quirk told the court Whitaker, her partner and her teenage son – who was not the victim of bullying – had approached the victim family’s home to confront the family about the bullying issue.
Defence lawyer Rod Morgan said one of Whitaker’s six children – who suffered from aspergers and was intellectually impaired – had been assaulted at school and threats emerged on social media.
He told the court she had attempted to resolve the matter through the school but to no avail and concluded the only way to solve the issue would be through confrontation.
Mr Morgan said a fight broke out between the men from the home and Whitaker’s partner and older son, who were not charged with any wrongdoing.
While she had not been involved in the physical altercation, she accepted she was upset and yelling at the time, he told the court.
Mr Morgan said Whitaker volunteers at a school canteen and at a local sports club and was previously working as a nurse.
He ordered her to undertake a good behaviour bond of $850 last for one year and no convictions were recorded.
Maxine Janet Hunter
CCTV captured mother of nine kids Maxine Janet Hunter’s grubby theft of hundreds of dollars at Dan Everson Podiatry in Maroochydore in March 2023 while she was employed as a cleaner.
Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard on April 29 that security footage showed Hunter cleaning the medical business about 10.49pm when she searched drawers in an office and found a black box, taking out the cash inside.
Police prosecutor James Allen said she conducted an identical theft days later when she returned to the room and pilfered more money from the black box while wearing personal protective equipment.
The court heard Hunter ripped off the podiatrist of $534.55.
Duty lawyer Rose Killip said Hunter’s bosses withheld her pay slip to repay the podiatrist.
Ms Killip said it was a low level of criminality involved, with Hunter addressing magistrate Maxine Baldwin on how she had relapsed on drugs in the past.
Hunter pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing by clerks and servants and was jailed for one month, suspended for one year.
Chloe Jena Axford
Chloe Jena Axford faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on April 2, where she pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon and possessing schedule 8 medicines or poison.
The court was told the weapon was an electric antipersonnel device - such as a stun gun or a stun baton - and was found on top of Axford’s fridge in her Nambour home on September 6, 2023, the same day the medicines were found by police.
Lawyer Ben Rynderman said a letter from her employer described her as a “valuable employee”, while a letter from her mother detailed how her daughter had once been on a destructive path but within the last year had a “substantial change”.
Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist sentenced the woman to two months in prison, with a parole eligibility date of that same day.
The woman could be heard crying “no, no, no” before she was led by a police officer to the corner of the court room near the dock.
Her partner then approached her and hugged her while she said “don’t let me go”.
Sheryl Laine Arthur
Maroochydore Magistrates Court was told on August 27 Sheryl Laine Arthur used money which virtually landed “in her lap” last year on her own personal bills, hotel accommodation and even her own car.
Her flagrant deception was heard following her plea of guilty to fraud by dishonestly gaining a benefit of value over $30,000.
Police prosecutor Tara Miles said the mother of three appointed the victim to sell a house, when in the process of the property settlement, an accountant made an error and transferred an extra duplicant amount of money into Arthur’s bank account on October 20, 2023.
The court heard this amount was for $108,476.02, with Arthur repaying up to $61,000 back.
Senior Constable Miles said the accountant located the fatal mistake however the Beerwah mum went to ground with the remaining $47,476.02 and ignored multiple attempts to be contacted.
Defence lawyer Matthew Cooper said Arthur was of good character and a contributing member of the community, pointing towards her volunteer work at her children’s school and time teaching yoga to the elderly.
Arthur was sentenced to 30 months’ jail, to be suspended immediately for 30 months.
Taneisha Lee Blakeley
Sunshine Coast mum Taneisha Lee Blakeley appeared in the Maroochydore District Court on August 21 where she pleaded guilty to robbery and enter dwelling with intent while armed in company.
Crown prosecutor Joana Dias told the court Blakeley – who was 18 at the time – and a group of young men entered the Mountain Creek home on March 30, 2022.
“Two days before the offences, Ms Blakely and co-accused Phillips went to the complainant’s home and collected a pair of shoes he had for sale for $210, she had indicated she would transfer the money through pay ID but never paid him and told him a text message that she wouldn’t pay him,” Ms Dias said.
Ms Dias told the court a number of incidents occurred between the defendant and the complainant relating to the exchange of valium and xanax over the days before the robbery, with Blakeley approaching the complainant’s house at one point with a butcher’s knife.
The court was told on the night of the robbery Blakeley’s co-accused and former partner, Phillips, entered the home first pulling a pistol from his bag and demanded to know where the complainant was.
Defence barrister Laura Reece told the court she understood the offences to be drug-related as Blakeley was addicted to a number of substances at the time.
Blakeley was sentenced to four years imprisonment, wholly suspended and a three-year probation order.
Lauren Lesley Hall
Lauren Lesley Hall pleaded guilty at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday, August 17, 2023 to acting as a real estate salesperson without a certificate and two counts of providing a document with false information.
The court was told Hall used the registration of a woman with the same first and last name to get a job in property management, after she lost her own certificate and was banned from reapplying for five years due to a fraud conviction in 2016.
In July, 2023 she asked the Office of Fair Trading for a licence extract for a Lauren Hall who worked in North Queensland, and despite having a different middle name, Hall was sent the document.
But following an anonymous tip-off about unlicensed workers, Office of Fair Trading investigators visited Hall’s workplace and found an expired registration in Hall’s file.
Hall later confessed to the fraud during an interview with Office of Fair Trading inspectors but claimed she did not realise the registration belonged to someone else.
Lawyer Jacob Pruden told the court his client had applied for a new registration three times, but was knocked back.
Hall was fined $8000 and disqualified from getting a real estate licence for five years and convictions were recorded.
Lutchmee Robinson
Gympie woman Lutchmee Robinson was supported by her daughter and other family members in Maroochydore District Court on April 3 as she faced the consequences of taking millions of dollars from her former employer between 2017 and 2019.
The court was told Robinson, who was employed by T & L Byrne Excavations and Byrne Civil Projects as a bookkeeper, had swindled the companies out of approximately $1.43 million by overpaying herself, over inflating leave entitlements and having them cashed out, among other unauthorised transactions.
Crown prosecutor Rhys Byrne said this carried on for 32 months and Robinson tried to cover her tracks by manipulating company records.
Barrister Matthew Hynes told the court his client was under “significant stress” at the time and tendered a psychologist report stating Robinson had claimed she took the money in the beginning to flee to South Africa, her birth country, to escape a violent relationship.
Robinson pleaded guilty in November to a sole charge of fraud - dishonestly obtain property by employee of at least $100,000.
Robinson was sentenced to seven years prison, with a parole eligibility date of February 3, 2026 and a conviction was recorded.
Jorgia Morgan Rook
Jorgia Morgan Rook appeared before Townsville District Court in June clutching her infant son as she pleaded guilty to supplying and possessing methamphetamines, possessing cannabis, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of items used in commission of supplying a dangerous drug.
The former Hinchinbrook socialite had travelled from her new home on the Sunshine Coast to attend court, and had no one to care for her child for her, so she held him throughout her court appearance.
The court heard Rook’s phone revealed she’d supplied methamphetamines on five occasions over Facebook Messenger.
Defence barrister Darin Honchin said his client had a very difficult life suffering from mental health issues and is trying to make amends.
Rook is currently undertaking study to become a support worker, the court heard.
She was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, with immediate parole over a term of 18 months.
Kelly Renee Liddicoat
Kelly Renee Liddicoat was found guilty of a lone charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, following a two-week trial in the Maroochydore District Court on October 18, 2023.
Liddicoat was the driver of a white BMW which struck and killed mechanics Aaron Pitt, 25, and Lleyton Bartlett, 22, while they repaired a broken down CDC bus on Nambour Connection Rd at Woombye on April 21, 2022.
The jury had found Liddicoat was adversely affected by a cocktail of prescription medication when she struck the two young men.
Judge Michael Williamson rejected claims from the defence team that Liddicoat was not aware she was under the influence at the time, and said she had been “untruthful” with her psychologist and others about how long she had been clean from drugs in an attempt to make herself look better.
He told the court Liddicoat grew up in a loving and supportive home, and was a mother to two children - one 17-years-old and one 21-years-old- with whom she had a loving relationship with.
Judge Williamson sentenced Liddicoat to six and a half years in prison, but she will be eligible for parole on April 15, 2026 - less than half of the sentence.
Her 181 days spent in custody was declared time served and she was disqualified from driving for five years.
Angela Skye Feige
Angela Skye Feige was intercepted by police along the Bruce Hwy at Palmview late on March 13 when officers discovered she was driving with alcohol in her system.
In Caloundra Magistrates Court on March 28, police prosecutor Michael Quirk said the Waterford West woman showed signs of drunkenness and returned a positive reading roadside, ultimately revealing she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.164 per cent.
Mr Quirk said police saw Feige was driving with her child in her vehicle.
Defence lawyer Laura Turner told the court Feige ran her own real estate agency, where she was the only employee.
Ms Turner said she was not in a great place but was seeking assistance. She was also incredibly remorseful and embarrassed for her offence.
Feige pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was fined $750.
She was also disqualified from driving for seven months with a conviction recorded.
Sarah Jane Reeves
Footage shown to Maroochydore Magistrates Court on June 11 detailed two violent attacks by Noosa mother Sarah Jane Reeves who pleaded guilty to several offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
Court documents state the two attacks took place in June and October, 2023 at Kings Beach and Dicky Beach.
Police prosecutor Brendan Newman showed footage of her wild confrontation and assault against her 72-year-old neighbour.
The court heard Reeves followed the elderly victim, continuing to assault her when witnesses attempted to assist the victim.
Senior Sergeant Newman played another assault captured on CCTV at Kings Beach where Reeves was seen throwing her former friend to the ground before she rained down punches and kicks on her.
Defence barrister Lachlan Ygoa-McKeown said his client showed genuine remorse and has sought treatment for her mental health issues.
Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist jailed Reeves for two years, but granted her immediate parole and ordered her to pay $1000 to each victim.
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