Antoinette Little has jail time extended after stealing mobility scooter from church volunteer

A woman who stole a mobility scooter while its owner was cleaning a Geraldton church has been sentenced to additional time behind bars.

Antoinette Little last week received a four-month jail term in Geraldton District Court for breaching a suspended prison sentence imposed after a 2018 burglary.

The breach occurred when Little and a co-accused rode away on a $5000 mobility scooter belonging to a volunteer cleaning the local Salvation Army Church on November 21, 2020.

The now 36-year-old was on Monday sentenced for the stealing charge itself, with prosecutor Sen. Const. Dean Solman telling Geraldton Magistrates Court the theft was a “very upsetting, distressing and traumatic event” for the victim.

Security camera footage of the incident identified Little and the scooter was returned to its owner.

MORE NEWS

• Jury takes less than two hours to declare Geraldton man David Wayne Tencate not guilty of rape
• Geraldton masseur Chun Hung Wong to stand trial on indecent assault charges in March
• Cleo Smith found: Ten days after her miraculous rescue, here are the six burning questions that remain

Defence lawyer Kate Fry said Little’s was a “crime of opportunity” and a “very stupid thing to do” but asked the court to consider the time her client had already served in custody when sentencing.

Magistrate Robert Young acknowledged Little was under significant pressure when she was the carer for her sick father at the time of the offence but, said her victim was “also vulnerable”.

The theft breached a 12-month suspended prison term handed down in the Geraldton District Court in September 2019 for aggravated burglary.

Little breached the order on two more occasions when she failed to appear in the Geraldton Magistrates Court on January 14 and February 18 after twice being released on bail following the scooter theft.