Josephine Terese Macreadie sentenced at Byron Bay Local Court for stealing Essential Energy truck

A Ballina woman who stole and crashed an Essential Energy truck with the plan of selling it interstate has been jailed for two years.

Essential Energy truck. Picture: File

A woman who stole an Essential Energy truck with the intention of selling it in Queensland has been jailed for two years.

Josephine Terese Macreadie, 32, has been sentenced for stealing a car, police pursuit, stating a false identity to police, reckless driving, driving during a disqualification period and driving with drugs in her system.

The Ballina woman appeared at Byron Bay Local Court via a video conference while in custody last month.

An Essential Energy electrician was working on the nature strip of Treeland Cr and Moon St in Ballina when he left the keys inside the unlocked truck on November 4 last year, the court heard.

An Essential Energy truck was left unlocked.

Macreadie stole the vehicle and drove onto the Pacific Highway where a police pursuit began, police documents state.

She managed to swerve past a set of road spikes but drove through a second set, which caused her to crash into the highway rail guard.

Police state she had ulcers in her mouth, was fidgety and rocking back and forth when they arrested her.

Macreadie gave police a false name and address and told them she had an intensive corrections order “for this sort of thing already”.

These offences triggered a breach of a community corrections order for domestic violence-related offences from 2021.

Magistrate Karen Stafford sentenced Macreadie to two years’ jail, with a non-parole period of 10 months.

Ms Stafford also directed Macreadie to complete drug and alcohol rehabilitation.