Leona McKinnon pleads guilty to fraud after deceptive caravan sale at Woombye

An ex-law firm worker has admitted to forging her former partner’s signature and selling their jointly owned recreation vehicle, pilfering more than $10,000 from her half of the deal.

Leoni Merci McKinnon faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Friday. Picture: Sam Turner

A Manly West vet assistant will pay no restitution after she fraudulently sold her former partner’s caravan without his permission and forged his signature on its sale forms.

Leona Mercia McKinnon will instead perform community service after she admitted to defrauding her ex-boyfriend of $13,5000 after she deceptively sold the recreational vehicle they were joint owners of on March 6 at Woombye this year.

Maroochydore Magistrates Court was told on Friday the 55-year-old sold their caravan to a reputable caravan dealer for $27,000, which involved the business’ salespeople attending her home for legal documents to be signed.

Acting magistrate Anna Smith said McKinnon provided a copy of her and her partner’s driver’s licence, without his permission, as well as forging his signature on the transfer documents.

Ms Smith said the Manly West woman then provided a joint bank account to the business for the funds to be deposited into.

The magistrate said her former partner did not agree to selling the caravan and did not provide his signature or agree for a copy of his licence to be provided.

McKinnon pleaded guilty to a single charge of fraud on Friday.

McKinnon would later be charged with the fraud of $13,500, which was half of the sale. She pleaded guilty to the single charge on Friday.

Police prosecutor Mark Burrell said McKinnon’s former partner gave a victim impact statement to the court which spoke about the financial loss he suffered due to the caravan being sold.

Senior Constable Burrell said the Manly West woman’s offending was “always doomed” to fail as it was not sophisticated, with there being moments where she could have stepped away from her scheme. The court heard she had no criminal history.

Defence lawyer Patrick Meehan said McKinnon, who works as a vet nurse but previously worked as a paralegal at law firms on the Sunshine Coast, was in a relationship with the victim.

Mr Meehan however told the court the relationship was marred by domestic violence.

Mr Meehan said McKinnon was in a “terrible position” at the time and made a regrettable mistake, and asked for no conviction to be recorded.

Ms Smith accepted the offending did not occur “in a vacuum” but rather in the context of a “domestically violent relationship”, which she said explained why a 55-year-old person of good character did this.

She also gave limited weight to the victim impact statement as she said he had been compensated for the caravan which he did not disclose. The magistrate said there was also no supporting evidence on how it affected him in any way “socially or psychologically or physically”.

McKinnon was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. No conviction was recorded and no restitution orders were made.

Originally published as Leona McKinnon pleads guilty to fraud after deceptive caravan sale at Woombye