17, pregnant and off to jail?

A Queensland magistrate has opted to take a month to make a difficult decision on whether to send a pregnant 17-year-old girl to jail after finding her guilty of 16 offences.

Ashleigh Newby pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court this week to the charges, including one count of seriously assaulting a police officer.

Magistrate Russell Warfield said that, although Newby would definitely receive a term of imprisonment, he needed some time to decide whether or not she would be granted immediate parole.

The court heard that police at Agnes Water - a Queensland coastal town between Bundaberg and Gladstone - had found an intoxicated Newby lying in the middle of Captain Cook Drive on May 14.

Police decided to take Newby to Bundaberg Hospital but she refused to put on her seat belt, yelling obscenities and kicking an officer in the face.

Read more in The Gladstone Observer

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