Woman jailed for bomb threat at Hobart female homeless shelter

A woman has been jailed for threatening to “blow up” the Annie Kenney Young Women’s Refuge. But it’s not the first time she’s been to prison for sinister hoax bomb threats at the shelter.

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A WOMAN has been jailed after threatening to bomb a homeless shelter, phoning a staff member and menacing: “your building is going to blow up tonight sl*t”.

Desiree Simone Evans, 41, made the sinister threat in April 2018 when she phoned Hobart’s Annie Kenney Young Women’s Refuge, which provides accommodation for young homeless women.

The bomb squad attended immediately and five women, plus staff, were evacuated, the Supreme Court of Tasmania heard.

But just three days later, Evans phoned the refuge again and made a personal threat against the centre’s coordinator.

Justice Michael Brett said the second threat was “relevant as context”, as Evans – who has pleaded guilty to one count of making false threats of danger – hadn’t been charged over the subsequent phone call.

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He also said it wasn’t the first time Evans had acted in such a way, with a lengthy criminal history demonstrating “a clear pattern of similar behaviour since at least 1997” when she was 19 years old.

In fact, Evans had already been jailed before in 2015 for threatening to bomb the refuge.

Justice Brett said at the time, Evans called the shelter twice and menaced that “a bomb would explode in the refuge that night”.

She was jailed for 12 months over that offending, with a non-parole period of seven months.

Evans has previously been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder and a mild intellectual disability.

Justice Brett said Evans was socially isolated and had an inability to deal with interpersonal conflict and life’s stressors, but sometimes committed criminal offences when those issues were combined with alcohol or substance abuse.

He said the 2018 offending likely occurred after Evans had been assaulted at her accommodation and she was under the influence of alcohol.

“Your counsel called it acting out,” he said.

“ … you were probably trying to attract attention to secure assistance with that problem. Whatever the reason, it did not justify your conduct.”

She was again jailed for one year with a non-parole period of seven months.