Melbourne Gumtree scammer with expensive taste could avoid jail

A Melbourne woman who funded her habit for luxury handbags by scamming men on Gumtree has been given the chance to avoid jail, despite one of her victims being run over as she stole his phone.

Brylie Stratton lawyers' have claimed the public will benefit if the con artist is rehabilitated in the community.

Going under the fake name 'Molly Sue', 22-year-old Brylie Stratton lured Gumtree buyers into meeting her, before stealing their prized possessions and driving off - leaving one of her victims in hospital.

One of the victims was a father of four with a pregnant wife.

The head chef met Stratton in Little Bourke Street in July last year to sell her his iPhone.

She snatched the device through the passenger side window of a stolen car and fled.

The man was run over and dragged 50 metres.

Stratton ambushed another Gumtree user earlier that day, stealing a man's laptop in Bulleen.

When police raided a Coburg home, they found her loot which included three Louis Vuitton bags, a Louis Vuitton purse, a Gucci purse, an Apple Watch, a Kathmandu jacket, and $450 cash.

Stratton pleaded guilty to multiple charges at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court last month, including theft, car theft, wilfully damaging property, failing to comply with a court order, and attempted theft.

Stratton has an IQ of 68 and her lawyers said she struggles to remember to attend appointments. 

A magistrate today said she must attend every court-ordered medical appointment, or she will face a prison sentence.

Stratton will find out her fate next month.