Catherine Susan McKinnon: Methed-up mum’s $7.5K fuel fraud
A Logan fraudster who got her hands on a company fuel card has been ordered to pay back thousands of dollars from prison.
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A mother-of-four from Logan has spent the last four months in custody after she was arrested driving a stolen car, the Beenleigh Magistrates Court heard on Monday.
Catherine Susan McKinnon, 33, appeared via video link from prison to plead guilty to a total of 26 charges, 18 of which were drug-related.
Defence lawyer Katherine Hansen of Gilmore Lawyers told the court her client had been a contributing member of society, living in Kingston, raising four children and working a regular job as a barista, until she broke her hand in November 2019.
The injury forced McKinnon to leave work and she quickly turned to drugs, developing a severe addiction to methamphetamines within months.
The court heard McKinnon’s offending began in December of 2019 with minor drug-related infractions and over the course of the year escalated to property offending as she struggled to make ends meet and maintain her habit.
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At the height of her offending, McKinnon took a 7 Eleven fuel card from Leg Construction Pty Ltd to the value of $7500, started to grow cannabis at her home, and on November 27, was arrested driving a stolen vehicle through Logan.
She has remained in custody since, with a total of 144 days of declarable pre-sentence custody served.
Her children, aged between 13 and 7, stayed with her mother during this time.
The Magistrate told McKinnon she hoped those children would be enough to keep her on the straight and narrow upon her release.
McKinnon was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay $6500 restitution to 7 Eleven.
Convictions were recorded.
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