Lee Stacy McDonald faces Caboolture Magistrates court for bashing 75-year-old landlord

A woman has faced court after a brutal attack on her elderly landlord, in which she pulled out chunks of his hair and punched him in the head six times, leaving him gasping for air.

A court north of Brisbane released a woman from custody despite her being found guilty of bashing her 75-year-old landlord.

Lee Stacy McDonald, 45 of Caboolture, pleaded not guilty to serious assault of a person over 60 and guilty to possessing a pipe for smoking cannabis, at Caboolture Magistrates Court on Tuesday, July 26.

The court heard McDonald had an appalling criminal history of assaults and dishonesty offences sprawling across four states.

She was already on parole and two suspended sentences for other assault charges when she bashed her elderly landlord at his Caboolture home and threatened to kill him.

The court heard she had been staying with him for about six weeks because she was homeless.

On February 4, 2022, police were called to the 75-year-old man’s Caboolture home twice during the day because of McDonald’s drinking and verbal abuse towards her landlord.

Police told McDonald she had to leave his place by noon the next day.

The elderly man was walking back to his room from the bathroom before 11pm that night when McDonald approached him in the hallway and said “you’re f***ed you’ll see … I’ll f***ing kill you”.

Court Caboolture

The court heard she then attacked the 75-year-old, pulled out chunks of his hair, slammed him onto the living room couch and punched him in the head with a closed fist about six times.

He was able to escape and ran outside where one of the witnesses, a friend of a neighbour, found him hanging over the fence struggling to breathe.

The elderly man then walked to a nearby service station, where he called police to report the assault.

Police told the court he presented as frail, vulnerable, injured and quite shaken up.

The court heard he had suffered bruising and cuts to his hands and arms as photos of his injuries were shown in court.

Police then went with him to his Caboolture home around 10.45pm.

They told McDonald her rights and asked if she’d come to the police station to be interviewed and she agreed.

Police body camera footage from the night, played in court, showed McDonald claim she had been the one who was assaulted.

Once at Caboolture Police Station, McDonald declined to be interviewed and was subsequently arrested and placed in the watch house.

Police told the court McDonald appeared to either be intoxicated or on drugs, was behaving erratically and wasn’t making any sense.

McDonald had served 172 days in custody before the hearing.

She told the court she had been in her room for two whole days and when she left to retrieve her phone from the coffee table, her elderly landlord attacked her.

The court heard McDonald claimed he strangled her and she pushed him onto the couch in self-defence.

McDonald was found guilty of bashing her elderly landlord and possessing a pipe used to smoke cannabis.

The court heard she was abused as a child, had been diagnosed with various mental health disorders, had hip injuries, needed a hip replacement, had alcohol and drug issues, hasn’t worked for 10 years and was receiving a disability pension.

McDonald was on two suspended sentences for seriously assaulting a police officer at Caboolture just a month before this and was already on parole for another offence.

She was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, her other suspended sentences were activated, convictions were recorded, and her parole release date was set to Tuesday, July 26.