Alfred Maynard William Kyle: Ice user allegedly ‘aggressively’ arrested after threatening to kill police

An ice user with a history of carrying weapons fled from police into a stranger’s home in Westcourt, holing up in a bedroom, then threatened to shoot officers, a Cairns court has been told.

An ice-user who was known to carry weapons hid in a bedroom and threatened to shoot police, Cairns Magistrates Court has been told.

An ice user with a history of carrying weapons fled from police into a stranger’s home in Westcourt, holing up in a bedroom, then threatened to shoot officers, a Cairns court has been told.

In the “aggressive” arrest that followed, the man’s skull was fractured and his head “stomped on”, the court was told.

Alfred Maynard William Kyle, 39, a grandfather of two and father of 12, told the court he was “grateful” the situation ended as it did, with injury instead of deaths.

He pleaded guilty in Cairns Magistrates Court to nine charges related to the events of the two days leading up to his arrest, including two dangerous driving episodes, evading police, possessing a knife and unlawfully using a motor vehicle in December last year.

He was sentenced to two years’ prison, with a parole release date of August 11 after serving a third of his sentence.

Police prosecutor Alice Lane said Kyle had a history of stealing cars and fleeing from police but the most recent episode through busy Cairns suburbs on December 12, 2024, was “an escalation”.

Alfred Kyle drove dangerously through the streets of White Rock and Westcourt to get away from the police, mounting front lawns, reversing towards police, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving over a power box

Kyle, who was said to be a known ice user with a history of carrying weapons, drove dangerously through the streets of White Rock to get away from the police, mounting front lawns, reversing towards police and driving over a power box, the court was told.

Later that same day in Westcourt, police again activated their lights to try to pull over Kyle, who drove dangerously on the wrong side of the road on English Street, before abandoning the car and fleeing into a nearby house.

Ms Lane said Kyle holed up in a bedroom and threatened to shoot police, saying, “I’ll f***ing kill you”, causing them to draw their weapons.

“The arrest was aggressive, but this is a defendant who has multiple flags on his file for being a violent, armed offender with previous history for carrying knives and ammunition and he also made threats to shoot police,” Ms Lane said.

Alfred Kyle’s defence solicitor told the court he had suffered a fractured skull during the arrest but accepted the outcome could have been far worse.

Defence solicitor Chris Harris described the arrest as “quite violent”, saying Kyle’s head was “stomped on”, and he had ongoing nightmares about the experience.

“The police were quite right to be worked up and vigilant. Having said that, it’s my submission, it went further in the end,” Mr Harris told the court.

“The scar on my client’s forehead is a result of the arrest. He received a fractured skull and he’s got three staples.”

Magistrate Sandra Pearson said injuries incurred during arrest could be taken into account at sentence as an “impact of the offending”.

“The fact that a person may receive some rough handling at the time of arrest can potentially, if it’s led to an to injury of some kind (can be referred to in) submissions as part of a punishment that will be suffered because they have a broken arm or something as a result of what’s happened,” Ms Pearson said.

Alfred Kyle told Magistrate Sandra Pearson that he had detoxed in prison, had sought support and counselling for the trauma and grief in his life, and wanted to change his life for his family.

Kyle addressed the court directly, saying he was ready for change.

“Due to my overwhelming behaviour, my stupidity, and the age I’m at, and I’ve been through a substantial amount of grief, I’m willing to make that exceptional change in my life for the sake of being a father and grandfather … I need to be more than I am and I’m willing to make that change for the better and continue with my rehabilitation outside as I’ve been doing in here (prison) for the past four months.

“Being here today, I’m grateful it didn’t turn out the way it could have turned out … I could be dead myself.”

Ms Pearson said “it’s never too late”, in imposing the two-year sentence with a parole release date a third into the sentence to take into account his guilty plea and remorse.

Originally published as Alfred Maynard William Kyle: Ice user allegedly ‘aggressively’ arrested after threatening to kill police