‘Stealing stimulates my brain’

A TOOWOOMBA woman with five pages of criminal history claimed she committed crimes in order to stimulate her brain.

Samantha Lea Gunhammer claimed she wanted to get away from illicit drugs but when she stopped using drugs she found her brain needed to be entertained and so she committed offences to keep her stimulated, her solicitor Alysha Jacobsen told Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

Gunhammer appeared before the court via video link from Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre to plead guilty to 12 offences which ranged from drug possession to stealing false eyelashes worth $12.99 to stealing a $2000 bracelet which had not been recovered.

In what was considered the most serious of her offences, the 30-year-old had stolen the bracelet from a table in a Toowoomba

charity op shop on December 19.

The bracelet, which remained outstanding, belonged to a volunteer at the shop, the court heard.

Another of her matters that was considered quite serious was a public nuisance offence committed on November 22, last year, when she had smashed a glass bottle on the concrete driveway leading into Grand Central.

Gunhammer had smashed the bottle when approached by police officers, the glass shattering across the driveway which caused a hazard for motorists and pedestrians alike, the court heard.

She had also been found with small amounts of cannabis and methamphetamine.

The court heard the 30year-old’s five pages of criminal history was compiled mainly since July 2017 and consisted primarily of stealing and drug offences.

Ms Jacobsen said her client instructed she had been introduced to methamphetamine and cannabis use by a boyfriend when she was about 18.

Her client had anxiety and depression and needed to update her mental health plan with her GP, she said.

Ms Jacobsen said her client instructed she wanted to get off drugs but when she stopped using she found her brain needed stimulating which was why she turned to stealing.

Gunhammer had done some workshops to better herself while in prison where she had spent 43 days in pre-sentence custody, Ms Jacobsen submitted.

Magistrate Graham Lee noted Gunhammer was on probation and parole at the time of the offences.

Declaring the 43 days presentence custody as time served under the sentence, Mr Lee sentenced her to nine months in jail but ordered she could apply for release on parole immediately and ordered she pay $2000 restitution for the bracelet.