Knife pulled at Macca’s
A REPEAT property offender funding a serious ice addiction paid for food at a Gold Coast McDonald’s drive-through before he pulled a knife on a worker and demanded cash.
It marked the tail end of a Gold Coast crime spree lasting almost three months, involving attempted armed robbery, car theft, burglary, fraud and dangerous driving.
Trenton Reginald Dudgeon, 26, pleaded guilty to 68 charges in Southport District Court, including the most serious offence, the brazen attempted drive-through heist. The offences were carried out between February 23 and May 18 last year.
In court yesterday over videolink
BRITTANY McEvoy has ticked off a bucket list item not everyone does – run in a marathon – and she did it with Type 1 diabetes.
The Isle of Capri student has been nominated in our Harvey Norman Women of the Year awards for her positive attitude and resilience.
Ms McEvoy, 23, was diagnosed with the chronic health condition three years ago and said it was a surprise as she’d always been physically fit and healthy.
“It was really confusing with my background as an athlete, as my health has always been quite good,” she said. “I was really fit, working out a lot, eating really good. I thought: ‘This can’t be true.’
“I went through the whole ‘why me?’ phase and had an identity crisis. It was a big rollercoaster of emotions.”
Ms McEvoy said support from her family and finding an online community of Type 1 diabetics helped pull her through those first few months.
“I’m fortunate enough to have such a beautiful family. We’re quite resilient, we’ve been through a lot.
“Another huge component was Instagram. When I was in hospital I looked up Type 1 diabetes on Instagram. That inspired me to create my own account, and I’ve been documenting my journey ever since.”
It was Instagram that sparked Ms McEvoy’s plan to run in the New York from prison Dudgeon admitted: “I need help.”
He told Judge Julie Dick he had lined up a lift from prison to an in-house rehab facility.
Crown prosecutor Denise Darwen told the court Dudgeon had a “lengthy and relevant criminal history” and he was a “recidivist property offender with no respect for people’s property”.
“After paying for his order at the (drive-through) window, he demanded the money in the till and held the knife up to the window. The server told him ‘no’, closed the till, locked the window to the driveway and he drove off,” she said.
Ms Darwen told the court Dudgeon crashed a stolen car “causing significant damage” on April 30.
Marathon in 2018 as part of a diabetics charity and support group.
“I saw this girl I followed (on Instagram) who ran the marathon for the American team. I thought: ‘That’s ridiculous. I can barely go for a three-minute run without being concerned about my blood sugar.’
“I reached out to her and a few months later applications were closing to run as part of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research
Later, on May 17, Dudgeon “drove dangerously in Coomera, which involved driving at 105km/h in a 70km/h zone, driving the wrong way around a roundabout and driving at speed on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic”.
He only held a learner’s licence during the offending, the court was told.
Defence barrister James McNab handed up a stack of documents, including paperwork confirming Dudgeon’s employment and participation in programs while in prison.
Mr McNab said the attempted robbery was “ridiculous” and unsophisticated.
Judge Dick sentenced Dudgeon to an overarching term of three years jail and he was released immediately on parole.
Foundation) organisation. I got accepted. I think the fact I was given an opportunity made me want to do it.”
Ms McEvoy said it was important for women to own their healthy journey.
“My best advice is to be unafraid to open up about your own personal journey,” she said.
Do you know an inspiring woman making make a difference in the community? Nominate her at womenoftheyear.com.au.