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Subscriber only A BUSY professional couple was this week found to have left their pet staghound cross so underfed that its ribs and pelvic bones were sticking out of its lethargic and emaciated body. A court heard RSPCA inspectors went to the couple s home and rescued their dog Bella, and Damien and his wife Ashtika O Connor were charged with offences under the Animal Care and Protection Act. On Friday they went before Ipswich Magistrates Court for sentence, where it was heard they had owned Bella for six years. Damien O Connor, 37, from Collingwood Park and Ashtika O Connor, 25, both pleaded guilty to failing to feed Bella, a female Staghound cross type dog in June 2020; and breaching their duty of care by failing to provide appropriate living conditions between June 7 and June 23 last year.
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Subscriber only A WOMAN who police suspected of drink driving while unlicensed repeatedly denied being behind the wheel, telling police: I don t know how to drive . When police spotted Quen Noa Aiono just before 2am, she was seen to get out of the driver s door of a silver Honda Civic in a Goodna street. When questioned, she immediately denied the offence. She was breath tested and found to be nearly three times the legal alcohol limit, with a reading of 0.130. Checks revealed that she had previously held a licence but this was suspended at the time due to her unpaid fines.
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A MAN caught riding his motorcycle while disqualified this week told an Ipswich magistrate it had not been a deliberate act of defiance.
Joseph Spijkers said he had not received the official court letter about his disqualification when he was pulled over a few days later riding on the Cunningham Highway.
The disqualification had been imposed by the court while he was not present, and he claimed to have been unaware of his situation at the time.
Spijkers conceded, however, that he had previously been warned he would be losing his licence if he did not attend the court hearing.
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Subscriber only A MUM of six has pleaded guilty to deliberately lighting a fire that destroyed a Lowood house. The woman, 32-year-old Nakita Amy McGee, appeared before Ipswich District Court on Wednesday and made a formal plea of guilty to wilfully and unlawfully setting fire to a building at Honeyeater Place at Lowood on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Dressed in a bright red dress, McGee simply said guilty Your Honour , when asked how she pleaded. McGee was convicted of the arson then sat quietly in the dock for the remainder of what was a brief court appearance. House fire on Honeteater Place in Lowood in 2018.
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Subscriber only A MUM busted for drug offences walked from an Ipswich courtroom after receiving a strong word of warning from the magistrate. Mother of two Rebecca Neville was caught with the drug ice secreted under her bedroom pillow when police raided her caravan in the yard of her mother s Munruben home. Ipswich Magistrates Court this week heard she had previous history for drug offending. Rebecca Adel Neville, 36, from Redbank, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of methylamphetamine at Munruben on July 11 last year; unlawful possession of cannabis; possession of drug utensils including used smoking pipes; possession of anything used in a drug crime; and failing to attend court in Beenleigh.