Biggest Geelong court cases from the last week including Moana Glenister, Christopher Collins
A man linked to footy and cricket clubs in Geelong swooned and scammed multiple women across Victoria weeks after serving his sentence for a previous conviction. Read more Geelong court latest.
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Geelong courts have been jam-packed this week. Catch up on everything you missed.
Geelong woman found in stolen caravan, busted with drugs
A Geelong woman who pretended to be her daughter was busted with cannabis and methamphetamine while driving to visit her son.
Moana Glenister, who has no fixed address but is connected with the Norlane area, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday to theft of a motor vehicle and possessing a drug of dependence.
In April 2020, police saw Glenister driving in Norlane with checks revealing the vehicle’s registration had been suspended.
When she was pulled over, Glenister provided her daughter’s identification but an officer was able to recognise her.
Further inquiries revealed Glenister had never held a Victorian licence.
Hamlyn Heights woman in court for dangerous driving
A Hamlyn Heights woman who was caught speeding three times in under six months was accused of thinking she was “bulletproof” by a frustrated magistrate.
Talisha Szucs appeared at the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday morning and pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving, failing to stop on police direction and breaching a Covid direction.
In December 2020, police witnesses observed Szucs in a stationary vehicle in Bell Post Hill that was displaying P-plates. At the time, Szucs was still on a probationary learners permit.
Police took up a position behind her and recorded that she was travelling at 130km/h in a 60km/h zone. When police put their lights and sirens on, Szucs accelerated away from them.
When police caught up with her, Szucs, who had hid the car keys in her shoe, claimed that she was on her way to a laundromat.
Corio man assaults cops days after jail release
A drunk Corio man assaulted police officers just days after being released from jail.
A handcuffed Andrew Roberts, who has pleaded guilty, was on Thursday led into the custody room at the Geelong Magistrates Court to face charges of assaulting police officers and causing damage to a vehicle while he was in a drunken rage.
Police custody officers told Magistrate John Bentley that Roberts had been behaving “erratically” that morning and was “unpredictable”, so they requested that he be kept handcuffed for the plea hearing.
On Wednesday night, Roberts was arrested in Corio for causing criminal damage to a vehicle and to a woman’s fence. While being detained, Roberts allegedly kicked out at an officer and skimmed the top of his head.
Police, brandishing a taser gun, had cautioned Roberts in the moments before the assault and he had seemed to immediately comply.
North Geelong man threatens to kill over expired chicken
A North Geelong man who threatened to kill someone over an out-of-date chicken has faced court.
Justin Lowe, 43, appeared before the Geelong Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to making threats to kill and assault.
In February 2021, Lowe was in a verbal argument with a male victim over the phone about an expired chicken.
The argument escalated when Lowe told the victim that he would “cut your f**king head off” and “break every bone in your body”.
Lowe, who also told the man that he would “get around there and beat the f**k out of you”, told police that he was retaliating to the victim’s own responses and that his anger had got the best of him.
Christopher Collins boasted of ‘sure bets’ before stealing money from unsuspecting women
Victoria’s own Tinder swindler stole tens of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting women in the middle of swooning them on dates just three weeks after finishing a community-based order for similar offending.
Christopher Alan Collins returned to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where magistrate Cecily Hollingworth questioned whether he could be rehabilitated.
Ms Hollingworth said Collins — a serial offender with multiple convictions for crimes against women — had clearly not learnt from his previous dispositions from the court.
“How can I have confidence this individual has prospects of rehabilitation?” Ms Hollingworth said.
Ms Hollingworth said the offending she stands to punish him for happened a year after he was released from jail, and soon after he completed an 18-month Community Correction Order on December 11, 2019, for scamming six other women of $82,000.
Ocean Grove man who defecated in cells sentenced
A court has handed down its sentence of an Ocean Grove man who brought a firearm to a police station and begged to be jailed.
Baron Hodgkins, 52, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court to a number of charges, including possessing a firearm, assaulting a police officer, being drunk in public and driving while suspended.
In May 2022, the Ocean Grove police station was on high alert after a call from Hodgkins that he had a “machine gun” and was standing outside. He asked them to “immediately remand” him.
Officers observed Hodgkins suddenly pull out a black imitation firearm and throw it to the ground. He immediately got onto his knees, put his hands behind his head and waited for the officers.
Defence lawyer Sally Buckley said that Hodgkins had “found” the firearm a few days prior and had called the officer, told him “he wanted to help and he wanted to be placed in custody”.
Poultry farm fined after bird flu lockdown breach
A poultry farm and one of its managers have been fined just $4500 after ignoring transport bans during a bird flu outbreak which killed thousands of its animals.
Pindarri Poultry Pty Ltd and the company’s development manager Glenn Canning were slapped with the fines at the Geelong Magistrates Court on June 21 after illegally moving poultry during what turned into the largest bird flu outbreak in Australia.
Magistrate Peter Mellas labelled the case “an unusual situation” that cost the lives of thousands of birds and came at a large expense to the public.
The court heard Mr Canning discussed the outbreak with a staff member before telling him not to let the birds out of the shed on August 2, 2020.
Two days later, Mr Canning ordered the transport of 792 turkeys from the Lethbridge farm to the company’s Bairnsdale property.
Originally published as Biggest Geelong court cases from the last week including Moana Glenister, Christopher Collins
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