Woman steals friend’s car battery to replace her own dud

RAELENE Kay Alsop faced Nanango Magistrates Court this week, after switching a friends car battery with her car’s faulty battery.

Alsop pleaded guilty to three charges this week, including stealing a friends car battery. Photo: Scott Richardson.

A WOMAN faced Nanango Magistrates Court on Monday after taking a car battery out of a friends car, who was letting her stay at her home, and replacing it with a faulty one.

Raelene Kay Alsop, 44, pleaded guilty to three charges, which took place between April 1 and April 24.

On April 24, 2020, Alsop was charged with disqualified driving and unlawfully possessing property after switching her faulty car battery for a friends good one.

Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi said she had been staying with the victim at the time of the offence, which occurred some time between 8.30pm on April 23 and 4.30pm on April 24.

"The defendant has gone to (the friend's) car and swapped his good battery for her bad battery," sergeant Gangemi said.

Her car was then seized and taken into legal custody with the victims car battery inside.

She was on probation at the time, having previously been charged with eight offences of dishonesty, including stealing.

Sergeant Gangemi told the court at 2pm that day, police intercepted Alsop while driving on D'Aguilar Highway at Blackbutt.

She told police at the time she was on her way to pick up her dogs.

According to defence lawyer Thomas Carr, Alsop claimed another friend took the battery and put it into Alsop's car, so that she could borrow it.

"She went to her friends house to collect the car, and that is when she was charged with disqualified driving and the car was impounded with the battery," Mr Carr said. "She then went and bought the victim a new battery."

The other disqualified driving charge occurred on April 1, 2020, after officers intercepted Alsop while driving on Drayton Street, Nanango.

Mr Carr said Alsop had recently bought her son a car and was accompanying him to pick it up. He drove both of them to fetch the car at 9.45pm that night, and while driving the car back home, Alsop was pulled over by police and charged with driving while disqualified.

Magistrate Andrew Sinclair placed Alsop on a 12 month probation period, and she has also been disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence for two years.

Convictions were recorded.

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