Meet the south east Queensland elderly crims busted setting a bad example
From a grandma charged with supplying dangerous drugs to a grandfather charged with aggravated stalking, these South East Queensland grandparents are setting a bad example.
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From a pot-selling grandmother who escaped jail time to a grandfather who destroyed property with a baseball bat, meet the elderly south east Queenslanders who have been hauled before the courts.
A Current Affair dubbed her the ’drug granny’
An elderly Logan woman avoided jail after being charged with supplying dangerous drugs.
Dubbed the “drug granny’’ after A Current Affair filmed her in 2012 selling drugs from her veranda, Evelyne Susanne Mullineux, was charged with four offences after a search warrant was executed on her home in December 2019.
She faced Beenleigh Magistrates Court in August where the court heard Mullineux was found in possession of more than 200g of marijuana, scales and a mobile phone.
She faced four offences including possessing dangerous drugs, possessing property used in connection with the commission of a drug offence, and two counts of supplying dangerous drugs.
The court heard Mullineux had a lengthy history of drug offending, which included two years’ imprisonment in 2012 for drug trafficking and six months’ imprisonment in 2014 for possessing dangerous drugs.
She again pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs last year.
Mullineux was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with immediate court-ordered parole.
Read the full story here.
“Loneliness” leads grandfather to stalking
Robert Barlow, 70, left a grandmother on Brisbane’s northside living in fear after a short-lived relationship turned sour.
The two dated for three months before the woman broke it off, he had hoped a relationship would “fill the void” of loneliness he felt after the passing of his former partner
Rather than accepting the woman’s decision, Barlow “began to act strangely”, turning up unannounced to her home and workplace, bringing her gifts she didn’t ask for and sending her multiple text messages and emails each day, the Sandgate Magistrates Court heard.
The situation escalated between June and September 2019, until Barlow was seen waiting outside the woman’s workplace, yelling her name to get her attention and trying to intercept her as she walked to the entrance.
The court heard Barlow then started to drive past the woman and her daughter as they walked to and from school, and send her text messages telling her he’d been watching her as she walked the Sandgate Esplanade and ate fish and chips with her friend.
“You’re so gorgeous and irresistible, I think about you every day and every night,” Barlow wrote in a text message, according to the police prosecutor.
Barlow pleaded guilty to two charges including unlawful stalking, but won’t face any time in custody or probation due a life-threatening illness.
Magistrate Jennifer Batts sentenced Barlow to a two year good behaviour bond.
Should he reoffend, he will have to pay the courts $3000.
Read the full story here.
Grandad smashes up property in baseball bat attack
A Redcliffe grandfather who smashed up a fence and house with a baseball bat was lucky to escape jail.
Scott Damian Forrester pleaded guilty to wilful damage in Redcliffe Magistrates Court.
The court head Forrester, of Redcliffe, attended a home at Woody Point at about 5.30pm on March 17, 2020 and picked up a baseball bat out of the yard.
He then struck the fence a number of times and was heard by a witness yelling “I told you not to call the f***ing cops”.
Forrester also damaged the plasterboard on the front of the house.
Magistrate Mark Bucknall said Forrester had a concerning pattern for violent behaviour in his four-page history.
He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment but was granted immediate parole.
Read the full story here.
Abandoned meth lab discovered in grandfathers apartment
A grandfather was sent to jail after an abandoned methamphetamine lab was discovered in a north Brisbane apartment.
54-year-old Brisbane man James Allan Hughes pleaded guilty to permitting use of place and possession of dangerous drugs in the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court.
The court heard Hughes, who appeared via videolink from custody, was providing emergency housing to an injured male friend when police attended his home at Slater Ave, Lawnton on an unrelated matter at around 4.45am, October 26 last year.
According to police prosecutor sergeant Kim Harwood, officers saw several items left in plain sight that indicated to them that a drug lab was present, such as a glass jar full of yellow liquid, a glass reaction vessel and various chemicals in the bathroom.
A crime scene was declared, the unit block hurriedly evacuated and the two male occupants, including Hughes, were arrested.
Both of the men declined to be formally interviewed by police but asserted the items did not belong to Hughes, despite being found inside his apartment.
“(Hughes) stated the items were left in his unit by other persons and (he was) aware those persons were heavily involved in illicit drugs,” Sgt Harwood said.
“(Because Hughes) was previously homeless, he knew what it was like (not to have a place to store items) so he allowed the stuff to be left in the unit so it doesn’t get taken.”
Magistrate Melanie Ho accepted that Hughes, a father of four children and grandfather to three children, was simply storing the items and not taking part in their manufacture or distribution as the evidence showed the items, such as the glass beakers, had not been used in months.
Hughes was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with immediate parole eligibility.
Convictions were recorded.
Read the full story here.
Big night turns to big trouble for Logan grandad
A Logan grandfather who attempted to drive after a night of clubbing in Fortitude Valley has been disqualified from driving.
Police discovered Chambers Flat grandfather Danny James Gray McLachlan, 57, a worker at a glass recycling plant, passed out behind the wheel.
McLachlan was charged with high-range drink driving (UIL) after the June 29 incident.
Beenleigh Magistrates Court heard McLachlan had been drinking in Fortitude Valley when he made the “very bad decision” to drive to see his partner on the northside following a fight between the pair.
At about 9pm, police on patrol in Boondall witnessed a Toyota RAV4 pulled over in an “awkward” position on Bicentennial Rd, “half on the road and half in the gutter”.
Police witnessed a number of cider cans in the footwell, as well as an esky which contained further ciders.
A breath analysis revealed McLachlan had 0.176 per cent blood alcohol content.
McLachlan pleaded guilty to the offence.
He was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for eight months.
Read the full story here.
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