Bundaberg, Gympie, Fraser Coast’s most shocking crimes from the past year
An increase in violent crime across Queensland, including Bundaberg, Gympie and the Fraser Coast, has left experts calling for support for offenders and at-risk families. We take a look at some of the recent violent crimes that have shocked the Wide Bay:
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Experts say stamping out violence must be addressed in our communities after a Queensland Government report suggested violent crime had increased across the Wide Bay and Queensland.
University of the Sunshine Coast Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Justice Dr Nadine McKillop said the region had witnessed an alarming jump in cases over the past two years.
“Although the overall rates of crime reported by the Queensland Police Service suggest offending has remained steady over the past year, drilling down to violent crimes highlights a substantial increase in interpersonal offences such assault, sexual assault, robbery and other offences against the person,” Dr McKillop said.
“The Wide Bay region is no exception, with rates of assault per 100,000 at 775.08 up from 510.22 in 2020; and sexual assaults up from 159.25 in 2020 to 175.48 in 2021.”
The figures indicate rates of assault increased from 2020 to 2021 to 51.91 per cent while sexual assaults increased by 10.19 per cent.
Dr McKillop said the report suggests violence had increased when the pandemic arrived to Queensland and lockdowns were ordered across the state.
“The containment measures of the pandemic have increased social isolation and this has created opportunities for abuse to occur within the home by perpetrators known to the victim and often in some form of intimate or family relationship,” she said.
Dr Mckillop said while punishment should reflect the harm a crime has caused, it was “shortsighted” to focus on sentencing only and questioned what was being done to support offenders in their transition back to the community and at-risk families so loved ones didn’t end up in court in the first place.
“We need to be addressing these issues at a societal level, creating community dialogue to stamp out violence within our communities,” she said.
We take a look at some of the violent crimes that have shocked the Wide Bay region over the past year:
WARNING SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND THIS CONTENT DISTRESSING
Hervey Bay’s Ricky Francis Neeson pleaded guilty to attempted murder
Ricky Francis Neeson, 59, pleaded guilty in Maryborough Supreme Court to one count of attempted murder of his wife after she asked him for a divorce.
The day before the attack, on August 5, 2020, Neeson had become abusive towards his wife, calling her a “s--t” after she asked for a divorce before police were called and he left, but returned to the Kawungan home on three occasions that evening.
About 6am on August 6, Neeson arrived outside the home on his motorised scooter, jumped over the back fence and used a key to enter the home via the back door.
His wife was asleep when he approached the bed with the intent of killing her and slashed her across the throat.
After the attack, he left the house and returned to his scooter, which he later abandoned.
His wife held a doona to the wound to stem the bleeding and sought help from others inside the home before she was rushed to Hervey Bay Hospital and underwent surgery.
Neeson handed himself into police 36 hours after the attack and made admissions including that he had felt “pure rage” over his relationship breakdown.
The court heard Neeson had suffered from a major depressive disorder through much of his life and suffered chronic abdominal and back pain from unsuccessful surgery.
Judge David Jackson said it was only by good fortune that the woman’s injuries weren’t more serious.
“Yours is a domestic violence offence of the most serious kind,” Judge Jackson said.
“Your offence was a deliberate action of control, by trying to take away your wife’s very life.”
Neeson was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with 635 days in pre-sentence custody declared as time served.
Maryborough’s Matthew Bradley James Tench pleaded guilty to murder
On November 3, 2018 Linda Lovett, a 58-year-old Thai sex worker, arranged to meet 26-year-old Matthew Bradley James Tench for sex after he found her through a classified ad.
Tench secretly brought a knife with him to the motel where he showered and engaged in sexual activities with her before stabbing her 26 times to her head, neck and upper body.
She attempted to escape, but succumbed to her wounds just outside the door of her room.
Tench pleaded guilty in Maryborough Supreme Court on May 3, 2022 to the gruesome murder.
Tench first denied any wrongdoing to police, but later told an undercover police officer posing as a prisoner at his cell in the watch house he had killed “some random b---h by stabbing the living shit out of her”.
During an interview with police, Judge Jackson said, Tench had told them he’d “been through so much s--t” he had hit breaking point and “felt like killing people”.
Judge Jackson said Tench suffered from a personality disorder characterised by borderline anti-social traits, low tolerance for frustration recurrent suicidal thoughts and intense anger but had not been of unsound mind when he committed the offence.
“Your killing of Ms Lovett was shocking; it was physically savage and mentally vicious,” Judge Jackson said.
“You vented your anger against the world by killing a defenceless woman who was a stranger after having had sex with her.”
Tench was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Bundaberg’s Wizard Drilling owner Geoffrey Charles Rogers jailed for rape
Geoffrey Charles Rogers, 59, who owns the two successful companies – AustralianSeafood.com and Wizard Drilling – was sentenced in Maroochydore for the “violent” sex crimes he committed against a girl who was under 16 at the time.
Rogers had previously pleaded guilty in the Gympie District Court to 12 charges in total, and was sentenced in Maroochydore District Court to two counts of rape, two counts of common assault and three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16.
Crown prosecutor Catherine Birkett said in 1998, when Rogers was 36, he sexually assaulted the victim who was 15 at the time.
The court heard Rogers touched her breasts, digitally raped her and called her a “s--t” before assaulting her again just a few days later.
His second attack occurred when he took the victim on a tour of his farm before raping her, slapping her across the face and biting her breasts.
In a third incident, Rogers took the girl to an “isolated location” where he raped and sodomised her until she vomited.
The victim tendered a victim impact statement to the court which detailed how she had been “traumatised” both physically and emotionally by the attacks.
The court heard Rogers had been married for 39 years and had four children.
Judge Glen Cash described the offending as “violent” and “very serious to say the least”.
He sentenced Rogers to nine years’ prison with parole eligibility after four and a half years.
Isaac Powell jailed for manslaughter of Paul Herdman in Hervey Bay
Disturbing details of the events of September 5, 2019 were read out in Bundaberg Supreme Court where Isaac William Powell, 34, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 45-year-old Paul Herdman.
The court heard there was talk on the day Mr Herdman had “made a pass” at the homeowner as well as Powell’s partner Jodie Bailey on a previous occasion while Powell was serving time in jail.
Despite being told not to worry about it, Powell’s jealousy got the best of him and once outside, an altercation broke out.
Herdman was knocked to the ground, with witnesses seeing blood coming from his mouth.
Powell, who was on ice at the time, panicked and was slapping Herdman in the face to try and get him to wake up.
He and his partner were asked to call Triple-0, but they were reluctant as they were both wanted for questioning by police.
It was agreed those present would say Powell and his victim had been sparring and a pair of pink boxing gloves were placed near him to support that story.
He was told to leave before Herdman’s partner began first aid after calling paramedics, but he succumbed to head injuries while in the ICU at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Powell was finally caught on September 11, 2019 after being seen at an electrical store by an off-duty police officer.
Ms Marco told the court Powell had a 15-page criminal history which was littered with drug offences and also offences of violence and his offending was “motivated by jealousy”.
Justice Crow told Powell during sentencing that when on ice he was a “dangerous man” and that he did not show “full remorse”.
“It shows that when you are on methamphetamine you are a dangerous person who cannot control themself, and that’s a serious aggravating feature,” he said.
“It’s plain that drugs are your problem and it’s plain that, since the age of about 20, for 12 years you were out of control and it’s led to an innocent man dying.”
Powell was sentenced to nine year imprisonment and will be eligible for parole in September 2023 after serving a period of four years.
Eight-hundred and twenty-four days was declared as time already served.
Man smashed with piece of concrete, punched repeatedly in brutal robbery
On September 20 in 2019, Desmond Johns, 27, and his then partner approached the victim at a supermarket.
The victim was physically assaulted and pressured to hand over a phone, which had been subject to the ongoing dispute.
Later in the day, Johns and his partner attended a home the victim was visiting where Johns picked up a piece of concrete and demanded the victim hand over the phone before hitting him twice in the forehead.
Johns then dropped the piece of concrete and began punching the victim multiple times.
The victim sustained a number of bruises as a result of the attack and handed over his phone to the pair.
Johns told police that he’d “lost his cool” at the supermarket but that the victim was the aggressor in the second assault.
Crown prosecutor Carla Ahern told the court Johns had appeared in the Ipswich District Court in 2012 for an attempted armed robbery.
Johns’ barrister Nick Larter told the court his client suffered an “unhappy” childhood and that his stepfather was not a good role model to him growing up.
Mr Larter said Johns’ offending was “largely a result of drug use”.
Judge Clare told Johns that his words were encouraging to hear and warned him of how much worse the situation could have been.
“A blow to the head can kill people and it does, we see that in court. One punch does kill, so you are lucky in this sense that you are not on a murder charge,” she said.
Johns was sentenced to three years imprisonment and will be released on parole in June this year.
He also received a three month jail term for the common assault charge.
Troy Andrew Frost in court for wounding, assault occasioning bodily harm
Troy Andrew Frost, 43, approached Shannon Thirkettle, Ryan McCann and their female friend in a park at Torquay about 11pm on February 20 last year.
Frost was not known to them, but approached the three young people and made accusations towards Mr McCann then leapt forward and attacked him, hitting Mr McCann in the throat.
Ms Thirkettle and the other woman tried to protect their friend from the attack and Frost used a piece of broken glass to slash Ms Thirkettle’s arm.
The wound, which left a tendon exposed, would later require surgery.
Frost then continued his assault on Mr McCann, lunging at him with the broken glass and causing a small injury to his stomach.
The two women then got between their friend and Frost.
Mr McCann and Ms Thirkettle sought help at the nearby Torquay Hotel.
He also swung his arm at the other woman, causing a cut to her arm, the court heard.
When police arrived at the scene, an officer was forced to use a taser to subdue Frost when he lunged at one of the officers with the glass still in his hand.
Frost was taken to hospital, but later told police he had consumed 18 beers along with prescription medication on the day of the attacks.
The court heard he suffered from drug-induced bipolar and PTSD.
Frost pleaded guilty in the Hervey Bay District Court to wounding, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and serious assault.
Judge Suzanne Sheridan said it was fortunate Frost’s actions hadn’t resulted in more serious injuries.
He had dated criminal history in New South Wales and no criminal history in Queensland.
Frost was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, with 10 months to be served in custody.
A parole released date was set for December 8, 2022.
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