Judge says decision to abandon boy at Maccas could have been ‘utterly disastrous’

A woman who abandoned a young boy at a McDonald’s, after her partner stole a car with the child and a puppy inside, has been told the night could have taken an “utterly disastrous” turn if his frantic parents had not found him.

The four-year-old boy and his puppy were found safe after being left at a McDonalds carpark by Justice Naomi Lansdown and her partner Clayton Ryan Miles.

A woman who abandoned a young boy at a McDonald’s, after her partner stole a car with the child and a puppy inside, has been told the night could have taken an “utterly disastrous” turn.

Justice Naomi Lansdown, 23, was picked up by her partner Clayton Ryan Miles, 35, in the car he had stolen with a preschooler and puppy inside from near hockey fields in Gladstone on July 19 last year.

The Brisbane District Court heard Miles initially did not realise that the four-year-old was in a booster seat in the back of the Toyota Landcruiser.

Mum reveals terror of moment car stolen with son, 4, and puppy inside

Car stolen with child and puppy still inside

The pair left him in a McDonald’s carpark near a busy road and the boy was “so disorientated and fearful” he tried to get back into the car, the court heard.

A Gladstone mother was relieved after her son, 4 and the family puppy were found safe. Picture: Matt Taylor

He was found uninjured by his frantic parents a short time later and the puppy was found safe in the abandoned car just after 1am.

Lansdown’s barrister Terry Morgans told the court the entire escapade had only been 20 minutes and the pair had tried to think of the “least unsafe” place they could leave the child.

Judge David Kent said he understood that the mother of two was between a “rock and a had place” but it was extraordinarily serious conduct.

“I accept that it was difficult for her and maybe it was the best of all the bad options, but it still wasn’t good,” Judge Kent said.

“How would you feel if someone did this to one of your children Ms Lansdown?” he said.

Lansdown pleaded guilty this morning to endangering a child by exposure.

Miles was jailed in February after pleading guilty to child abduction, endangering the life of a child, stealing, trespassing and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Lansdown also pleaded guilty to common assault and robbery with actual violence for an unrelated offence.

The court heard that while on bail, Lansdown lured another short-term boyfriend to a Brisbane hotel where she had organised for two men to rob him on November 8 last year.

The two men assaulted him, stole his late brother’s Armani watch, and she later punched him in the face in what the court heard was a “manipulative, deceitful and planned” robbery.

Lansdown was sentenced to three years’ jail.

After time already served, she will be released on parole on October 22 to live in Lowood.