Gambler robs elderly granny
UNFORTUNATELY for Nate Markovic, 5, playing in Currumbin Creek yesterday, what goes up must come down.
But as the temperatures drop to a mild 28C following a record-breaking run above 30C at Coolangatta, Gold Coasters will be breathing a sigh of relief.
The 16-day run which ended last week, only to be followed by another six days of 30C temps this week, broke a previous record set in 2004.
But spare a thought for Texas, four hours south west of the coast, where it was warmer than 30C for 71 days straight, smashing the record of 47 days.
With records tumbling across the state due to three heatwaves, the weather bureau has released a “Special Climate Statement” about the exceptional heat this week.
After two months of exceptionally hot conditions Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Lauren Pattie said showers forecast would take the edge off the heat from today until Friday. She said the highest chance of a storm would be on Sunday afternoon.
“There could be coastal showers just offshore and the possibility of storms inland,” Ms Pattie said. “From Monday to Friday there should be showers throughout the coast.” A GOLD Coast man confessed to stealing thousands from his wheelchair-bound grandmother to fund his gambling addiction, but his own mother said she “understands” why he did it.
Llewellyn Heath, 33, yesterday pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud and one count of attempted fraud in the Southport Magistrates Court after he stole his 82-year-old grandmother’s key card while she was having dinner at her Ashmore nursing home and used it to withdraw $10,600 between July and August last year.
The court heard Heath visited his grandmother, Shirley Heath, every day between 5pm and 6pm and would wait in her room while she had dinner and access her wallet.
He knew his grandmother’s PIN number because she had given him her card to buy goods for her in the past.
On 14 occasions he withdrew sums of up to $1000 from ATMs and service stations in Southport and Mermaid Beach before he was finally sprung by Ms Heath’s power of attorney who saw the withdrawals on bank statements when paying bills for her care.
Outside court Heath’s mother said she “understood” why her son had taken the money, saying her mother also had a gambling addiction when she was younger.
Magistrate Joan White did not sentence Heath to jail, stating he needed treatment for his gambling problem and should work to repay his grandmother.
“It’s a fairly heinous crime, stealing money from an 82year-old, especially someone who is your grandmother,” she said.
Heath was sentenced to 12 months probation.
He will be assessed for treatment for his gambling addiction and was given 12 months to repay the money to his grandmother.