Naomi Maree Long in court for Airlie Beach Safe Night Precinct public nuisance, drugs offences

A single mum enjoying a night out in a Queensland resort town picked the wrong audience for a rant about the lack of youth activities in town.

A Whitsunday mum has defended her decision to let her underage son join her on a night out in Airlie Beach saying there was nothing else for teenagers to do in the town.

Single mother of three Naomi Maree Long, 37, faced Proserpine Magistrates Court this week on multiple charges stemming from an incident in the Safe Night Precinct on November 20, 2021, during which she yelled abuse at police who questioned her parenting choices.

The court heard Long and her 15-year-old son came to the attention of police when they stopped to help a man passed out on the footpath about 2.10am.

Long was issued a ‘move on’ direction to immediately leave the area after arguing for several minutes with officers who told her it was an inappropriate environment for a child.

She then yelled at a passing police car, calling officers “f*cking dogs”, before police took her home to Proserpine.

Long pleaded guilty to committing public nuisance as well as possessing dangerous drugs, after police found a marijuana joint in her handbag.

Proserpine mum of three Naomi Maree Long pleaded guilty to committing public nuisance and possessing dangerous drugs. Picture: Facebook

The caravan park cleaner told the court she was upset with police for telling her off about her son when she did not believe she had done anything wrong.

“I was having a night out with a friend and my son had a few mates over and they rang us and asked us, could they come out for a walk?” she explained.

“We left the venues and caught up with my son and his mates – we were just walking, we weren’t creating any problems – and we came across this fellow lying on the ground outside a shop.

“I asked him his address and could I ring him a cab? And that’s when police came up to us and said we shouldn’t have been down there.

“I did get quite cranky, because there’s nothing for these young teenagers to do.

“They’re teenagers and they were sick of sitting at home so I said they could come for a walk. We were just going to walk home with them. We hadn’t been creating any harm, we weren’t being destructive.”

Magistrate James Morton told Long swearing at police was setting a bad example for her son and that she would have been better off taking her concerns up with the council instead of taking actions that landed her in court.

“This could’ve all been avoided,” he said.

“Next time put your head down and keep walking.”

The sentence was a $400 fine with no convictions recorded.