Woman walked into court with knuckle dusters

NOTE to would-be offenders, if one insists on dangling knuckle dusters from one’s handbag in full view of the public, perhaps it would be a good idea to remove them before entering the Toowoomba Courthouse.

That obviously didn’t occur to Toowoomba woman Lisa Maureen Rose Wyatt who was pulled up by security officers as she entered the courthouse on December 3 with what is considered a Category M weapon attached to the clip on the outside of her handbag.

The 32-year-old mother of two told security officers she had bought the knuckle dusters online from www.wish.com and had been carrying the item around on her handbag ever since, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

Wyatt had been attending court after being charged with two separate counts of drug driving to which she pleaded guilty yesterday.

The court heard those included her testing positive to methamphetamine after being pulled over while driving on Mort St on November 14 while subject to a provisional driver’s licence, and to driving with the same drug in her system on Ruthven St on October 10, last year, while driving on a provisional licence.

The court heard she had been sentenced to a suspended sentence last year for drug offences.

She pleaded guilty to both drug driving offences and to the unlawful possession of a Category M weapon.

Her solicitor Joe McConnell, of MacDonald Law, told the court his client had in the past had a significant drug issue throughout her life.

She had started using cannabis from the age of 13 but was introduced to methamphetamine in more recent times by an ex-partner, he said.

His client had done drug counselling and had at times been clean of drugs but had returned to using illicit substances when put under stress, Mr McConnell submitted.

An officer from the Department of Probation and Parole said Wyatt was suitable for community based orders and that she had done fairly well on probation orders in the past though she hadn’t taken full advantage of the orders.

To help her with her rehabilitation, Magistrate Robbie Davies placed Wyatt on 12 months probation and disqualified her from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for 12 months on the two drug driving offences.