Debbie Combarngo’s son jailed for attempted robbery of Toowoomba Uber

A court heard a Toowoomba man, who was homeless and injecting meth at 11, will spend time behind bars for attempting to rob an Uber driver – he has only spent three months within the community since the age of 18.

JAIL TIME: Jarkeam Dickman pleaded guilty to attempted to rob an Uber driver in January 2023.

A Toowoomba man, who was homeless and injecting meth at age 11, will spend timebehind bars for attempting to rob an Uber driver with a nonexistent gun.

A Toowoomba District Court heard the 23-year-old, Jarkeam Dickman, had only spent three months within the community since turning 18, in part due to his extremely traumatic and disadvantaged childhood, and longstanding addiction to hard drugs.

The court heard Dickman was in custody when his mother, Debbie Combarngo was stabbed to death in her Toowoomba apartment on May 6, 2018.

Debbie Marie Combarngo, 37, died after being beaten and stabbed in the attack at a home in Wilsonton, Toowoomba, in May 2018.

Crown prosecutor Sarah Dreghorn said Dickman, who had a lengthy criminal history for his age, got into a Toowoomba Uber driver’s car on January 29 and asked to be taken to the hospital.

But when they arrived, Dickman removed the man’s headphones.

“(Dickman) said ‘I don’t want to do this but I have to,’ and told the Uber driver he had bullets and a gun,” Ms Dreghorn said.

He then opened his bag to show the driver boxes of bullets.

Ms Dreghorn said the driver jumped out of the car, armed himself with a metal torch, and yelled for police to be called.

“(Dickman) came around and shaped up to the (victim) and spat in his face… before running away,” she said.

The court heard Dickman had matured while in custody over the past nine months, and stayed away from hard drugs despite them being readily available in jail.

Jarkeam Dickman pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery of an Uber driver at Toowoomba in late January, 2023.

Judge Tony Moynihan KC despite the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse Dickman suffered as a child, he had managed to obtain trade qualifications and tickets, but sadly the talented rugby league player’s promising sporting career fell away when he began using ice and heroin as a child.

He told Dickman that abstaining from drugs was the key to his rehabilitation, however it was up to him.

On Tuesday, November 28, Dickman pleaded guilty to attempted robbery with personal violence via spitting and was sentenced to a three year jail term.
The 303 days Dickman spent in jail was declared time served, and he will be released on parole in January 2024.

Originally published as Debbie Combarngo’s son jailed for attempted robbery of Toowoomba Uber