Toowoomba woman on animal mistreatment charges before the court

Noting the charges date from alleged incidents in August 2019, the magistrate said the case had “dragged on”.

The woman is facing three charges brought by the RSPCA.

A WOMAN facing alleged serious animal mistreatment charges brought by the RSPCA is expected to be sentenced before the Toowoomba Magistrates Court in March.

Toowoomba woman Kim Bolger had been subject to an arrest warrant after she failed to appear in the same court in December 2019 on a charge of unlawfully allowing an animal to injure or kill another animal and two counts of failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living standards for an animal.

The court heard Bolger at the time had moved to the Northern Territory but the court was then told the 40-year-old was living somewhere Victoria and was not expected to attend court.

No details of the case have as yet been aired in court but the charges are believed to relate to four dogs and the incidents are alleged to have occurred on a property near Warwick and a property at Yalangur near Kingsthorpe.

Acting Magistrate Lisa O’Neill said the charges dated back to August 2019 and that matter had “dragged on”.

Bolger appeared in person before the court Monday while her solicitor appeared by telephone link to ask for an adjournment.

It was envisaged the defendant would plead guilty to the charges at the next court appearance but because of mitigating circumstances to be put before the court the sentence hearing was expected to take up to two hours.

Bolger has not as yet been called upon to enter any pleas to the charges.

Ms O’Neill remanded Bolger on bail and adjourned the matters for an expected plea of guilty and sentence hearing back in the same court on March 15.