Gold Coast crime news: This week’s biggest court and crime stories
An ex-Hells Angels bikie faced court after a wild cross-creek escape attempt and a TikToker admitted to possessing cocaine.Read this week’s full court and crime wrap here.
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AN EX-HELLS Angels bikie has avoided jail after a wild cross-creek escape attempt and a controversial TikToker has admitted to possessing cocaine.
Read the Gold Coast biggest court and crime news below.
‘Brain snap’ behind ex-bikie’s bizarre escape attempt
Ex-Hells Angels bikie Ben Geppert claims it was a “brain snap” that drove him to remove his ankle monitor before an escape attempt across a Gold Coast creek.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to several charges in Southport Magistrates Court on Friday, earning a wholly suspended jail sentence.
The court was told Geppert removed his ankle monitor days before police caught up with him at Burleigh Heads, where he swam across Tallebudgera Creek and tried to commandeer a dinghy in a bid to evade capture.
Tiktoker admits cocaine possession
A controversial Gold Coast businessman and TikTok personality has faced court after being busted with a small amount of cocaine in his pocket.
Dr James Anthony Ellingford was fined $900 after pleading guilty to the drug possession charge in Southport Magistrates Court.
He was also granted bail after spending close to two months on remand for several serious charges.
Woman charged with arson after Gold Coast house fire
A woman accused of setting fire to a Reedy Creek home allegedly wrote diary entries about “burning down her house”, a court has been told.
Erica Lee Vuori appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday facing one count of arson.
Police allege the 46-year-old deliberately lit a fire in the rear bedroom of an Encamp St home in the early hours of Monday morning.
Farrier faces new charges months after parole release
A man convicted of fatally stabbing the brother of ex-Hells Angels bikie Ben Geppert is back behind bars after allegedly carrying out a violent home invasion.
Police allege Jarvis Jai Farrier and another man were armed when they broke into a Miami home last weekend, attacking a man inside.
Farrier has been charged with several offences and was due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Ex-travel agency owner defrauds clients of $70,000
A former travel agency owner who defrauded more than $70,000 from her own clients has claimed it was a desperate bid to keep her failing business afloat.
Roslyn Kamil Pilcher, who previously ran the Travel and Cruise Centre Runaway Bay, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of fraud in Southport Magistrates Court this week.
Between March 26 and June 23, 2018, Pilcher took numerous customers’ payments for cruises and other holidays that were never passed on to travel companies.
The funds totalled more than $73,000.
Rape accused charged days after being granted bail
A man accused of drugging and raping women participating in spiritual ceremonies allegedly breached his bail order within days of being released from custody.
The 50-year-old, who cannot yet be named, was charged in January with nearly a dozen offences including rape, sexual assault, and stupefying in order to commit an indictable offence.
Police now allege the man breached a condition of his bail less than a week after his release.
How serial Gold Coast conman’s latest scheme unravelled
A serial conman was already banned from the finance industry when he pretended to be his ex-prison buddy and director of a lending company, swindling more than a dozen businesses.
Anton Mentz was sentenced in Southport District Court this week for impersonating Jarred Scott, who he met in jail and later asked to be “dummy director” of his lending company Citi Private Capital.
The court was told the 53-year-old pretended to be the other man in numerous dealings with prospective clients between December 18, 2019 and August 19, 2020.
Manhunt after teens collected by car in hit and run
Police are still searching for the driver allegedly involved in a hit and run at Benowa.
It is alleged a sliver Mercedes was speeding and driving erratically near the corner of Benowa Rd and Lambros Drive before hitting two teenagers on an e-scooter.
The driver allegedly fled the scene without stopping to help the teenagers, who were both taken to hospital.
Harbour Town shopping centre target of ram raid
Thieves crashed their car through the shopfront of a Harbour Town outlet store early on Thursday morning, with police now appealing to the public for help.
Police were alerted to the brazen robbery attempt at the complex on Oxley Drive, Biggera Waters at about 5am
The crime scene was covered with smashed glass from the shop front panel, where the car made impact.
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Originally published as Gold Coast crime news: This week’s biggest court and crime stories
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