Hope Ellna Wardrop and Damian Michael King appear in Roma Magistrates Court after servo theft

A 19-year-old woman and her 46-year-old partner appeared in a South West Queensland courthouse for using a bank card they found on the ground to help themselves to a service station meal.

Damian Michael King and Hope Ellna Wardrop leaving Roma Magistrates Court. Photo: Jacklyn O'Brien.

A 19-year-old woman and her 46-year-old partner have blamed tough times for using a bank card they found on the ground to purchase food from a service station.

Hope Ellna Wardrop, 19, was sentenced for one count of stealing, while Damian Michael King, 46, pleaded guilty to five charges of fraud and a breach of bail conditions, but his sentencing was adjourned.

The pair appeared in the Roma Magistrates Court on Wednesday, August 21.

Wardrop’s stealing charge and one of King’s fraud charges relate to the same offence.

Just days after Wardrop’s 19th birthday, on April 24, she found a bank card on the ground outside Woolworths in Roma, police prosecutor Ellysha Geddes told the court.

She showed the card to her partner, 46-year-old King, and together they went to see if the card would work at an Ampol petrol station.

They used the card to purchase a sandwich and a drink, to the value of $18.60.

Wardrop was charged with stealing on April 26.

Ms Geddes said during a police interview, Wardrop said “times were tough”.

King then used the card to conduct more transactions, which constituted his other fraud charges.

Wardrop and King were both represented by Trevor May, who said the 19-year-old is a mother to one eight-month-old son. King is not the child’s father, Mr May said.

Mr May said Wardrop is unemployed, though she is trying to find work.

Magistrate Michael Wood fined the teenager $500 and ordered she pay restitution, but no conviction was recorded due to her age.

A sentencing date was set for King on October 2.

Originally published as Hope Ellna Wardrop and Damian Michael King appear in Roma Magistrates Court after servo theft