Rama Maria Bau Gallaher in court for car theft, dangerous driving, drug driving
A Gympie woman barely out of her teens and pleading guilty to a litany of crimes has been given a dressing down by the local magistrate who said the community was ‘scared and fed up’ with ‘this kind of offending’ by young people.
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A woman facing 48 charges including serious assault, drug driving, stealing cars and dangerous driving faced Gympie Magistrates court via video link on Tuesday.
Rama Maria Bau Gallaher, 20, pleaded guilty to all charges, which also included five counts of car theft , fraud, seven counts of break and enter, driving while suspended, receiving tainted property, failing to appear in accordance to undertaking.
These crimes all happened on different dates between December 3, 2022 and November 11, 2023.
She was also convicted of serious assault, resisting arrest, obstructing police, failing to properly dispose a needle or a syringe, possessing drugs she did not have script for, and possessing property suspected of having been used in connection with drugs.
Gallaher committed 16 breaches of bail in Caloundra and most of the other crimes were committed in the suburban areas of Gympie including Coochin Creek, The Dawn, Southside, Ross Creek, Veteran and Monkland.
The court heard Gallaher was born in Nambour, grew up in Gympie and was the eldest of eight siblings.
Lawyer Kristie Koo said Gallaher suffered from severe anxiety and depression, and struggled with her mental health.
“After her grandma passed away, Gallaher was devastated and used cannabis from the age of 16 to escape her pain,” Ms Koo said.
“Gallaher has got jobs lined up when she gets out of prison and intends to live at her mums’ house or to move to Western Australia to live with her aunty,” she said.
Magistrate Bevan Hughes told Gallaher she had a family who supported and loved her and it was “time to put the negatives behind you and be the woman that your family can depend on and do the things that your nana would be happy so that you can honour her legacy”.
“The community has had a gutful of horror from these young people offences,” Mr Hughes said.
“The community is scared and fed up with this offending and people just want to feel safe in their homes.”
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