A 30-year-old mother of two has walked free from Brisbane District Court after receiving a suspended sentence for her involvement in an armed robbery that took place in Elimbah last year.
Chloe Anne McKeon was sentenced on Tuesday by Judge Vicki Loury KC to four years imprisonment, suspended after serving 248 days, which she had already completed during pre-sentence custody. The sentence comes with an operational period of four years.
The court heard that McKeon played a crucial role in luring the victim to an isolated location in the local Moreton Bay suburb on 19 March 2024, under the false pretence of a romantic date. Her co-accused then allegedly held up the victim at gunpoint to collect a drug debt.
Judge Loury questioned where McKeon’s teenage children were during the incident, noting the defendant was heavily affected by drugs at the time. Defence lawyer Kate Fuller acknowledged this was a fair concern that had “landed home in a very drastic way” to McKeon during her eight months in custody.
The prosecution outlined how McKeon, who was training as a butcher at the time, encouraged the victim to comply with robbery demands and filmed the encounter on her co-accused’s phone. She also stole the victim’s mobile phone during the ordeal.
Crown Prosecutor Caleb Theunissen described particularly disturbing details of the incident, including how the victim was forced to his knees and made to sing Happy Birthday as a form of humiliation. The victim was also struck twice and had his footwear thrown into nearby bushland before managing to escape to a service station.
McKeon had known her co-accused for just one week before the incident occurred. She was arrested the following day.
The court viewed video footage of the robbery, with Judge Loury stating she was convinced a real firearm was involved, though whether it was loaded remained unknown.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of four-and-a-half to five years, describing it as a very serious example of armed robbery.
Defence submissions revealed that McKeon was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time and had developed an addiction following a miscarriage.
McKeon pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery in company with violence.
The incident highlights ongoing concerns about drug-related crime affecting local communities in the Moreton Bay region.
Published 2-September-2025
CLICK ANY LOGO TO SEE PUBLICATION
