‘Freaking out’: Escapee mum Natasha Lee Parker back before court

A mother-of-three who did a runner from the Townsville courthouse to avoid being transported to prison didn’t spend very long at large. See where police eventually found her.

Natasha Lee Parker appeared in court on Monday, June 3 and pleaded guilty to escaping lawful custody. Picture: Queensland Police

A mother-of-three who ran from court to avoid being taken to prison has appeared before a judge on a number of offences - including escaping lawful custody.

This time, Natasha Lee Parker appeared via videolink in the Townsville Magistrates Court dressed in the blue Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre uniform.

She pleaded guilty to five charges: evasion at night, driving without a licence, using a vehicle without a number plate, driving an unregistered car and escaping lawful custody.

The escaping offence occurred on February 26, when she appeared in the same courthouse in person to plead guilty to 19 offences including a range of petrol thefts.

The sentence was being covered by a Townsville Bulletin reporter, who captured the details when Parker was sentenced to six months imprisonment and fled the courtroom instead of waiting for police as instructed.

The Townsville Courthouse. Guards are not stationed inside the lower-level courtrooms.

Magistrates rarely imprison people who are free on bail at the time of sentence, and no guards are stationed inside the lower-level courtrooms.

Details about where police found Parker were read out in court on Monday, June 3.

The court heard she was discovered the very next morning at 10am in the Hotel Allen, and she told police she was “freaking out” and felt prison time wasn’t fair.

Defence solicitor Tracey Brown admitted the offence was serious.

“To her credit she was only at large in the community for one day,” Ms Brown said.

“She has three children, the youngest of which is aged two.”

Parker’s second most serious offence was evasion at night, which occurred on December 19, 2023 when she failed to pull over for police on Golf Links Dr.

Police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Angela Trevaskis submitted Parker’s traffic history (eight pages long) and her criminal history (nine pages long).

Magistrate Susan Warrington sentenced Parker to four months for escaping custody, to be served on top of Parker’s current six month sentence.

Parker also received 50 days for her evasion at night offence, but this is to be served concurrently and will not affect her final release date.

She was not further punished in relation to the three driving offences.

Parker will be eligible for parole on July 5.

Originally published as ‘Freaking out’: Escapee mum Natasha Lee Parker back before court