Andrea Emma Robb: Homeless meth-addict waves knife at autistic child

A homeless Southern Downs woman claims the young child interrupted her while she was making a sandwich, blaming drugs for her ‘excessive’ actions that ended in a court appearance.

A meth-addicted Stanthorpe mother has claimed she waved a knife at a child with autism because they were staring at her while she made her sandwich in a carpark.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa told the Stanthorpe Magistrates Court the child was looking at Andrea Emma Robb, leading her to react aggressively while brandishing a butter knife.

“She was in possession of the knife and was at the carpark making a part of her sandwich, but her vehicle had no such ingredients to make a sandwich,” he said.

The court heard the incident occurred at an Underwood Plaza carpark on March 27 at 3.40pm in Logan, where the 41-year-old was living out of her car.

“She accepted that she shouldn’t have had the knife in her hand, she had no reasonable excuse for doing that,” Sergeant de Lissa said.

Defence lawyer Amber Acreman said her client “happened to have a bread and butter knife in her hand” at the time of the incident and reacted “excessively”.

“It’s not a butcher’s knife,” she said.

Ms Acreman said her client only found out about the child’s autism after the incident and later apologised for her outburst.

She was later taken to Logan Hospital after admitting to police she was driving her car to move it while she was on meth.

“Upon being questioned by police she has made full admissions and volunteered that she had taken methamphetamine … and the certificate confirms the admissions that she made,” Ms Acreman said.

Ms Acreman said Robb had very significant drug issues for some time and only recently relapsed and “succumbed to the abuse of meth” due to life difficulties.

Magistrate Julian Noud said Robb’s actions were serious and she shouldn’t have been “armed with the knife”.

“Of more concerns is that you made admissions to driving a motor vehicle albeit it seems for a short period of time, while under the influence of that drug methamphetamine,” he said.

“That’s serious because there was a risk that you presented to other road users.”

Robb pleaded guilty to one count each of driving under the influence of liquor, possessing a knife in a public place, and driving without a licence and two counts of failing to appear in accordance with an undertaking.

She was fined $1850 and disqualified from driving for two years and six months.