Shannan Maree Ackland pleaded guilty to fraud, accepting money from a Mackay grandmother

An elderly Mackay grandmother was stripped of money when her granddaughter allegedly transferred the money to two women, one of whom faced court. It was not the woman’s first offence either.

A woman with a history of dishonesty has faced court after he involvement in stripping a Mackay grandmother of $1800.

The court heard the granddaughter of an elderly Mackay woman transferred the money from her grandmother’s bank account to Shannan Maree Ackland and her co-accused on February 2.

The court heard the son and power of attorney for the elderly woman noticed discrepancies in his mother’s bank account and reported it to police on February 17.

The granddaughter transferred the money from her elderly grandmother’s account to Shannan Maree Ackland (pictured) and her co-accused in early February, 2021. Picture: Facebook

Police prosecutor Linden Pollard said the grandmother’s bank statement showed 11 transactions to Ackland and her co-accused’s accounts in early February, totalling $1800

Mr Pollard said the bank was able to reverse seven of the transactions, leaving $800 owing to the grandmother between the pair.

Ackland pleaded guilty in Mackay Magistrates Court on October 20 to dishonestly obtaining $400.

But the court heard it was not the first time Ackland had spent money that was not hers. She is on probation and serving a community sentence for similar dishonesty offences which were heard in March.

It was because of this sentence and the timing of the offences Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan decided to convict but not further punish Ackland for her offending against the grandmother.

Ms Hartigan said this was because if the matters been heard together, Ackland would not have been given more than the 12 months probation and maximum community service she was currently serving.

‘[The other offences] were just tap and go, not taking money out of a poor old lady’s bank account’. Picture: Facebook

But Ms Hartigan still made a point to distinguish between the two bouts of offending.

“[The other offences] were just tap and go, not taking money out of a poor old lady’s bank account,” Ms Hartigan said.

“I consider that a serious example of fraud. It is sophisticated as it requires someone to go into somebody else's account and transfer the amount.”

Ackland was ordered to pay $400 restitution to the grandmother.

She was convicted and not further punished.

Her co-accused is expected to appear in Mackay Magistrates Court on October 26.

Originally published as Shannan Maree Ackland pleaded guilty to fraud, accepting money from a Mackay grandmother