A woman accused of helping to shoot a man during a robbery allegedly demanded a stranger help her escape police after she crashed a car full of stolen guns.
Kate Pendlebury was denied bail on Wednesday in Brisbane Supreme Court after spending a year on remand, with a judge saying she had not shown her continued detention was unjustified.
The self-admitted methamphetamine addict from Cooktown, in far north Queensland, allegedly lured a man to a Cairns hotel room with text messages asking him to "come around for pipes" on September 9, 2025.
Pendlebury's then partner allegedly sprang from a hiding place and pointed a gun at the 45-year-old man's head.
The alleged victim had won money from poker machines and previously asked Pendlebury about a car she had for sale.
"The co-accused demanded the complainant hand over money and his bag," Justice Declan Kelly said.
"The complainant told them he did not have any money. The co-accused shot him in the leg."
The man handed over $2200 in cash after being shot in the upper thigh, with an exit wound above his knee.
He told police Pendlebury, whom he had known for years, was standing behind her co-accused during the shooting and did not appear to be shocked.
Pendlebury and her co-accused were involved in a vehicle collision on the Bruce Highway north of Rockhampton, about 1000 kilometres south of the shooting scene, on September 16, 2025.
"A member of the public picked (Pendlebury) up a short distance from the accident ... she demanded he not stop as they passed multiple police vehicles," Justice Kelly said.
"He attempted to pull over to the side of the highway before (Pendlebury) yelled at him repeatedly to keep going."
The driver left the vehicle and Pendlebury allegedly got behind the wheel but realised the key had been taken.
She was arrested in nearby bushland and her co-accused was nabbed near the crash site.
Police allegedly found a stolen high-powered rifle and semi-automatic shotgun in black plastic case along with two rifles and three shotguns in a golf bag in the crashed vehicle.
Defence solicitor Jarrod Bell said Pendlebury had been kept in custody during an "extraordinary delay" in her case and now had a residential rehab centre that would accept her into a six-month program if she was released.
"She never held a weapon, never pulled the trigger," Mr Bell said.
"The alleged offending is an aberration, not an escalation ... she does not have this kind of violent offending in her history."
The prosecutor opposed bail and said Pendlebury appeared to have been part of a pre-planned armed robbery and was an unacceptable risk of committing offences and posing a danger to the community if released.
Justice Kelly said Pendlebury was accused of serious offending including armed robbery and acts intended to main while a long-term drug user and already on bail at the time.
"Shooting a man in the thigh could easily have led to someone's death," Justice Kelly said.
