Lisa Rose Halcrow, 42, pleads guilty to drug and traffic charges in Warwick court

A Warwick woman accused of murdering toddler Connor Horan has pleaded guilty to several unrelated charges, with her sentence sparking an outraged response from her alleged victim’s family. FULL DETAILS:

A Warwick woman accused of murdering two-year-old Connor Horan has pleaded guilty to a string of unrelated drug and traffic charges, with her sentence sparking outrage from the courtroom gallery.

Lisa Rose Halcrow’s offending dated back to between October and December, 2019, with her first brush with the law involving allowing an unlicensed person to drive a child in her care to school, which she claimed was necessary because she did not feel well at the time.

Warwick Magistrates Court was told it was only days later that the 42-year-old was busted behind the wheel on Tooth St with meth and marijuana in her system.

Police then raided Halcrow’s home on December 16 that year, where they found a small quantity of marijuana and tobacco mixture along with a bong and electric grinder all belonging to the Warwick woman.

Lisa Rose Halcrow pleaded guilty to several charges in Warwick Magistrates Court this week. Photo: Facebook

She then failed to give her identifying details to Warwick police in the seven days following the minor drug bust.

Halcrow appeared via videolink from jail, where she is awaiting trial in the Toowoomba Supreme Court over the alleged murder of toddler Connor Horan while the boy was in her care.

Several of the boy’s family members watched this week’s proceedings from the courtroom gallery, wearing shirts that read ‘Justice for Connor’ and saying the same phrase when Halcrow’s more serious charges were mentioned.

Defence lawyer Philip Stainton said his client should receive either a small fine or no punishment at all for the comparatively minor offences, as she had already spent years in custody and would remain there until the higher court proceedings were finalised.

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess agreed to convict and not further punish Halcrow, saying this spate of offending was not overly serious and her criminal and traffic histories were both relatively minor.

The sentence drew a fiery reaction from her alleged victim’s family members, with one person apologising to the magistrate before yelling, “Murderer!” at the videolink screen and leaving the courtroom, quickly followed by the rest of their evidently distressed group.

Halcrow pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing dangerous drugs, possessing drug utensils, drug driving, permitting another to drive while unlicensed, and contravening a police requirement.

She was also disqualified from driving for one month.

A date has not yet been set for her Supreme Court trial.