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Subscriber only A TOWNSVILLE mother-of-five has paid the price for failing to declare her full-time income while receiving over $103,075 from Centrelink in single parenting payments over a five-year period. A court has heard how social worker Bianca Mary Oyston, 45, made false declarations to Centrelink claiming she had received nil income between July 2014 and May 2019. This was despite earning over $243,000 from her role at Life Without Barriers and over $193,000 from House with No Steps - an average of $3,121 per fortnight - in addition to the single parent payments from Centrelink. Hunched over and tearful, Oyston pleaded guilty in the Townsville District Court on Tuesday to one count of obtain financial advantage by deception and one count of obtaining financial advantage for self.
Mr Quabba said the juvenile justice system remained out of touch with the public and the driver, who had been partying at a music festival and still had MDMA in his system, had suffered no consequences. Life can t be so cheap, he said. Their futures were taken at his hands on the wheel. As a juvenile he had adult responsibilities and privileges of driving a car without the consequences. A 17-year-old teen from Gulliver was charged over a traffic crash on the Bruce Highway that claimed the lives of two people aged 16 and 19 Picture: ROY BODY
The driver, who is from Townsville, was 17 at the time of the crash so cannot be identified and was sentenced under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act.
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Subscriber only A TEENAGE boy who killed two young sweethearts in a horrific crash north of Townsville is believed to have fallen asleep at the wheel before his vehicle slammed head on into the couple. The Gulliver boy, who cannot be identified legally, was driving from Cairns to Townsville after attending a music festival the day before. Sleep-deprived after a night of revelry and drug taking the then-17-year-old made the fatal decision to embark on the four-hour journey home. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing two deaths but the teenager who will turn 19 in just a number of months won t spend any time behind bars.