Toowoomba woman Rachael Ellen Strange, 26, blasted for recidivist criminal activity

A woman who laughed while a man was beaten and burned before her had a Queensland judge seething over her ‘blatant disregard’ for the law.

Picture: Kevin Farmer

A Queensland judge has unleashed on a woman convicted of a violent kidnapping for her “blatant disregard” for the law since her release from prison.

Rachael Ellen Strange appeared in Toowoomba District Court on Thursday facing resentencing after clocking up numerous charges in the years since gaining parole for a violent assault on a Brisbane man.

Strange, along with two co-offenders, was sentenced in 2022 for a gruesome attack and kidnapping of a man in a homeless accommodation centre.

After forcing the man into a hotel unit, the group unleashed their abhorrent assault.

Over an hour, the man was punched, pistol-whipped, stomped on, knifed, and burned with a blow torch. He was only saved from further torment when a hotel supervisor heard his cries for help.

The victim suffered multiple serious injuries including deep lacerations to his face, burns to his ears and hands and bruising over his body.

The court was told Strange was laughing through the assault, and was heavily impacted by drugs at the time.

She received a three year suspended sentence with 640 days of presentence custody declared as time served and two years’ probation for drug related offences.

Over the next two years she stacked up numerous more offences including going to confront a person with a knife, stealing, wilful damage, possessing dangerous drugs and ammunition and failing to appear in court.

Defence barrister John Davis instructed by McDonald Law said Strange had suffered significant personal tragedy upon her first release from prison, leading to her reoffending.

“That led her back into a mental health struggle and straight back into drug use and abuse,” Mr Davis said.

“She’s now coming out clean, knowing what her family situation is and what it looks like.”

Her actions earnt herself an additional year probation, $645 fine and one month’s imprisonment as well as the outrage of presiding Judge Jennifer Rosengren.

“She doesn’t care … she blatantly disregarded court orders,” she said.

“This is one of the more serious breaches of a suspended sentence that I’ve done in my many years on the bench, it’s the repeated nature of it and the circumstances in which she is reoffending.

“The court has tried to give you (Strange) repeated assistance and rehabilitation and you snubbed your nose at them.

“I don’t know whether you (Strange) thought you were going to come to court today and just roll your arm over and just deal with the breaches and she’ll be right mate.

“I certainly don’t feel that way after what I’ve read about you.”

Strange was ordered to serve the remainder of her original three year sentence with 182 days declared time served and an immediate parole release date.

Her ultimate return to the community will rely on a pending bail application for charges currently being heard in Townsville.