Mum of five jailed for riding in stolen cars
A TOOWOOMBA mother of five with a penchant for riding in stolen cars has been handed a jail term.
Leanne June Oberhardt is the third person to plead guilty before Toowoomba Magistrates Court to being a passenger in what has become the infamous stolen Porsche Macan that was driven across Toowoomba having been stolen from a Mt Lofty residence on July 13.
Polair had helped police crews on the ground track the Porsche that day before it was eventually found in Wilsonton Heights.
Oberhardt, 43, had spent the ensuing 81 days in custody since her arrest and appeared by video link from the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre to plead guilty to a total 21 offences stretching from October 20 last year to the Porsche incident in July.
Police prosecutor Chris Willson said Oberhardt had pleaded guilty to three separate charges of unlawful use of a motor vehicle in which she claimed to be a passenger in the stolen Porsche, a stolen Holden Captiva on October 10, last year, and a Volkswagen Touareg at Hodgsonvale on July 1.
Senior Constable Willson said the most serious of the offences was the burglary and taking of the Holden Captiva from the home of a man known to Oberhardt.
He had been in the garage when Oberhardt and others had entered his home, took his wallet and car keys and when the victim went to investigate he heard his car starting up and driving away, he said.
Oberhardt had been on a 12-month probation order imposed by the same court in August 2020 on a dangerous driving offence, the court heard.
Her solicitor Chris Neville, of Condon Charles Lawyers, told the court Oberhardt had been suffering homelessness and domestic violence at the time.
She had not been the primary offender on each occasion and had been with others, he said.
Her time in custody, while difficult, had been positive, he said.
“She hasn’t enjoyed her time in custody but it’s given her time to clear her heard,” Mr Neville submitted.
She now hoped to get out of jail, move to Toowoomba for a while before moving to Mount Larcom to live with her mother and get her children back, he said.
Magistrate Graham Lee declared the 81 days as time served and sentenced Oberhardt to six months in jail but ordered she be released immediately on parole.