Kane Bourchier pleads guilty to break and enter, possessing stolen property in Bundaberg court
A father with a daily meth habit went on a five-month spree from Gladstone to Bundaberg, leaving a trail of destruction worth tens of thousands. Now, his crimes have caught up with him.
Police & Courts
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A Bundaberg father went on a five-month drug-fuelled crime spree including reversing a car and trailer through the entrance of a motorbike store and making off with two bikes.
Kane Bourchier, 29, appeared in Bundaberg Magistrates Court via videolink from Maryborough Correctional Centre on Friday to plead guilty to 14 charges for offences committed from September 2023 to February 2024.
In the most serious of his offences, Bourchier together with an associate reversed a vehicle and trailer through the main entry doors of a Gladstone motorcycle store, breaking the glass and dislodging the door frame.
The pair stole two motorbikes, one of which was found by police during a search of Bourchier’s Bundaberg property while the other motorbike. worth $30,000, remained missing.
Other stolen property found by police at Bourchier’s home included 100kg of copper wire in a bucket with an estimated value of $15,000, a lawnmower valued at $3870, a drill worth $400, an industrial vacuum cleaner and eight fishing rods.
Cannabis and smoking pipes were also found through the searches.
Bourchier also cut the padlock from a gate to gain entry to a Mt Maria property, for which he was charged for wilful damage and trespassing.
The court heard Bourchier’s offending occurred within the operational period of two suspended sentences imposed in June 2023 for contravening a domestic violence order.
Bourchier’s defence lawyer, Rian Dwyer, told the court his client grew up in Bundaberg and the Sunshine Coast, and had only worked for a brief period between the ages of 14 and 17 as a furniture removalist and restaurant employee.
Bourchier had been in a relationship with his partner, who was present in the courtroom, for 10 years, and had one daughter with whom he has regular contact, the court heard.
Mr Dwyer told the court Bourchier had a methylamphetamine addiction and had used the drug daily through the five months of offending.
The magistrate told Bourchier “unfortunately for you, with all these offences and all of your history it comes down to a question not of if you should be going to jail, it’s question of how long for”.
Bourchier was given a head sentence of 12 months with immediate release on parole taking into account 73 days of pre-sentence custody.
He was convicted of five counts of enter premises and commit indictable offence by break, two counts of unlawful possession of suspected stolen property, two counts of receiving tainted property, two counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one count each of wilful damage, breach of bail condition and possessing utensils or pipes that had been used.
Convictions were recorded.
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