Crooked codgers: 10 South Australian senior citizens sentenced in court
Some senior citizens grow old and enjoy their twilight years but this bunch proved age is no barrier when landing themselves in trouble and facing the long arm of the law.
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While turning 65 can open up a range of new benefits, some spend their golden years dipping their toes into dangerous waters and staring down the barrel of a potential jail term.
A road rage retiree, a grumpy grandpa and Adelaide’s “oldest hoon” are among South Australia’s senior citizens who have been sentenced in court recently.
An elderly hoon was told to “grow up” by a magistrate after he sideswiped a driver and then pretended to be a police officer to avoid responsibility.
Kenneth McCann
Kenneth William McCann, 74, narrowly avoided jail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in July, after he flashed a fake police badge during an intense road rage incident.
The court heard McCann was driving his Mercedes on Morphett Rd, Morphettville on November 16, 2019.
The court heard McCann was tailgating the other driver unnecessarily.
“Your conduct was bewildering … at some point you were driving next to the other driver and side-swiped him,” Magistrate John Wells said.
“This pushed the car out of his lane into a turning lane.”
The court heard the other driver chased McCann until he pulled over.
“During that exchange you pulled out a badge which said ‘special police’ on it,” Mr Wells said.
“Soon after you rang the other driver, you said ‘I’m a sergeant and one of my officers has hit your car, just get a quote and I’ll take care of it’.
“The other driver recognised your voice and said ‘is this Ken?’ and you said ‘no, it’s not me’.”
McCann, of Glandore, pleaded guilty to representing a police officer and dangerous driving.
Mr Wells sentenced McCann to two months and three weeks jail.
It was suspended on a two-year good-behaviour bond for $500.
Howard Codell
A former teacher caught with hundreds of child exploitation files was dobbed in by a friend after he found the images hidden around a rural property.
Howard Frank Codell, 72, avoided jail in the Adelaide District Court in November after his collection of child abuse material was discovered in a bizarre hiding spot.
The court heard Codell was hospitalised and asked his friend to keep an eye on his Wilmington home and feed the animals on March 13 2019.
The friend found a shopping bag in the feed bin.
“When he finished feeding the animals he looked inside the shopping bag and found pornographic images,” Judge Liesl Kudelka said during sentencing.
There were 873 images in the 14 bags, 502 of which were aggravated because the children depicted were under the age of 14.
Almost of all the images were in category one, which depicts children involving no sexual activity and category six, which is anime, cartoons or drawings depicting children engaged in sexual poses or activity.
Codell, of Wilmington, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child exploitation material.
The court heard Codell who had worked full-time as a teacher and special education teacher until the age of 57 was a father-of-two and showing early stages of possible vascular dementia.
Judge Kudelka sentenced Codell to one year and ten months jail, with a non-parole period of 11 months.
Taking into account Codell’s mental illness, the sentence was suspended on a good behaviour bond for three years, with supervision for 18-months.
Sandra Yandell
A Lewiston breeder whose property was described as a scene of “extreme filth and degradation” has avoided jail for her “criminal mismanagement” of 118 ragdoll cats.
Magistrate Yoong Fee Chin handed Sandra Yandell a suspended six-month jail sentence in August 2020 after the 66-year-old pleaded guilty in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court to nine counts of the ill treatment of an animal.
The court heard Yandell had received nine animal welfare notices from the RSPCA in 2018.
However, an inspection on May 27 this year from a local vet and an RSPCA inspector found the property riddled with faeces and urine.
Mr Chin said Yandell “tried her best to the last available opportunity” and had given away kittens to children suffering from cancer as “therapy” during the course of the business.
However, he said the operation had “spiralled out of control”.
Yandell was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.
Patrick Talbot
A former rugby club president breached a young woman’s trust when he invited her into his house and then indecently assaulted her.
Patrick Andrew Talbot, 67, was sentenced in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in February last year for actions which caused fear and distress to his victim, who is more than three decades younger.
A police prosecutor told the court Talbot invited a woman to his Paradise home.
The court heard Talbot started making sexual comments after having some drinks together.
“At another stage he was blunt – he was opening his legs and looking down at his crotch and saying something like ‘don’t you want to try this’,” the victim’s affidavit read.
The court heard Talbot told the victim “I want to f*** you” before he indecently assaulted her.
Talbot pleaded guilty to indecent assault.
Magistrate John Fahey sentenced Talbot to a one-year good behaviour bond of $200. A conviction was recorded.
Michael Wall
A retiree who told another motorist he would “blow his brains out” while aiming an imitation firearm at him during a road-rage incident has avoided an immediate jail term.
Michael William Wall, 78, of Woodcroft, was agitated and frustrated after an “unsuccessful shopping episode” when he pointed a starter pistol at another motorist, the District Court heard.
During sentencing in November, Judge Adam Kimber said Wall was driving alongside the victim on Beach Rd, Morphett Vale, in January last year when their cars made contact as the two lanes merged into one.
About 600m further along the road, Wall stopped next to the victim at a set of lights.
“You wound down your window, called the victim a prick and said you would blow his brains out,” Judge Kimber said.
“When doing so, you held up what the victim thought was a revolver. It was a starter’s pistol.”
Wall pleaded guilty to aggravated threatening to cause harm and a number of weapons charges at an earlier hearing.
Judge Kimber suspended a prison term of two years and eight months in favour of a two-year good behaviour bond. Wall was also fined $750.
William Griffiths
A southern football club head trainer made repeated sexual advances on a teen player and touched him sexually.
William Phillip Griffiths, 67, of Hackham West, sat with his head in his hands in the dock at Christies Beach Magistrates Court in November after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent assault.
The court heard Griffiths, who was the Christies Beach Football Club head trainer at the time, was heavily intoxicated when he grabbed the boy’s hand and placed it on his body.
Magistrate Teresa Anderson said Griffiths told the teen he “wanted to f**k him and that you wanted him to f**k you”.
“You began behaving inappropriately towards him saying things like you liked him and wanted to (perform a sexual act on him),” Magistrate Anderson said.
Despite the teen feeling uncomfortable, Griffiths grabbed the boy, slapped his behind and pulled him towards him.
The court heard Griffiths approached the teenager again 20 minutes later in the same manner.
The teenager booked an Uber to leave the function when Griffiths followed him into the vehicle
“He pushed you away, you again touched him … and tried to pull his pants down, he kept telling you to stop,” Magistrate Anderson said.
Malcolm Simpson
A one time high-profile chairman of the Adelaide 36ers went from riches to rags and tried to bring down others with him.
Malcolm Simpson, 72, defrauded another high-profile SA business, Drakes Supermarket, of $207,250 and felt the brunt of his deception when he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
In August, the court heard Simpson used a business relationship he had generated with the organisation to convince them to pay for services that never eventuated.
The one-time owner of Champion Travel had fallen flat and was unable to pay back the company after they asked for their money to be returned, the court was told.
“He should be grateful that Drakes realised something was up and pulled the pin because it’s almost certain that the offending would have continued,” prosecutor Peter Longson said of the fraud.
“He had no money, he had no financial resources and he was never going to be able to find a quick $200,000 to put back in without taking the money from another third party.”
Simpson pleaded guilty in the District Court to five counts of deception and was spared actual time in prison following his defence counsel telling the court he had been “very embarrassed” by his actions which had also brought about the end to his marriage.
Instead, he walked free with a three-year and three month prison sentence hanging over his head as it was suspended by Judge Joanne Tracey.
John Rooney
A former teacher who had an alcoholic addiction in his final years working is “deeply remorseful” for being caught with child exploitation material.
John Henry Martin Rooney, 65, avoided jail in the Adelaide District Court in June after he contributed to a “serious social evil”, the court heard.
The court heard police attended Rooney’s Fairview Park home and seized a computer and iPad on May 8, 2020.
“On both of those devices were 37 images and four videos of children under the age of 14 years,” Judge Adam Kimber said during sentencing.
Fourteen images and two videos of children aged between 14-17 years were also found.
“They included females in swimsuits and non-age appropriate underwear and girls posed in a sexually proactive manner,” Judge Kimber said.
“Police also found evidence you had visited websites likely to contain images of child exploitation material.”
Rooney, of Elizabeth Grove, had previously pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material.
“You had a long career as a teacher, you’ve also made a positive contribution to your community – you have served as a volunteer within a sporting club for many years,” Judge Kimber said.
Judge Kimber sentenced Rooney to nine-months jail.
The sentence was suspended on a two-year good behaviour bond for $1000.
Graeme Buckmaster
A grandfather who threatened a top cop and a magistrate if he lost his licence has previously been convicted of threatening to kill two police officers.
Graeme Scott Buckmaster, 65, was jailed for over two years in the Adelaide District Court in February after he left a magistrate feeling concerned for his safety.
The court heard Buckmaster divulged threats about Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and Magistrate John Wells to his psychologist.
“You said … ‘I will attack police and it will be Grant Stevens, not his minions below him’,” Judge Rauf Soulio said during sentencing.
“Further, you said that Mr Stevens would remember you every time he looked in the mirror … alluding to the disfigurement that you caused to Mr Stevens’ face.”
The court heard Buckmaster referred to other court charges including solo driver exceeding maximum work time and knowingly making a false or misleading statement.
“I will jump the dock and pummel the magistrate if they dare to take away my licence,” Buckmaster also told his psychologist.
Buckmaster, of Semaphore, pleaded guilty to two counts of threats to cause harm.
Judge Soulio sentenced Buckmaster to two years and two months jail, with a non-parole period of nine months.
The sentence was backdated to June 9.
Peter Hyde
An 81-year-old man with an “exemplary teaching history” has narrowly avoided serving his remaining years in jail after being caught with thousands of vile child exploitation files.
Peter Lionel Hyde will be able to continue caring for his dementia suffering wife, after he blamed “aggressive” advertising on him transitioning to his sinister online habit.
In January, the Adelaide District Court heard police attended Hyde’s house in December, 2017 and seized his devices.
Over 2700 child exploitation images and videos were found on Hyde’s devices, with the majority being children under 14 years.
The court heard Hyde spread child exploitation material online through “detailed” Twitter messages.
“You assumed false identities and spoke about sexually offending against children – that included offending against an imaginary niece of yours,” Judge Gordon Barrett said during sentencing.
Hyde, of Rocky Camp near Millicent, had previously pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing child exploitation material and one count of disseminating child exploitation material in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court.
The court heard Hyde had worked as a teacher in Canada for 40 years.
Judge Barrett sentenced Hyde to two years jail, with a non-parole period of 18 months.
He ordered the sentence be served on home detention.
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