Wide Bay Burnett business people in court
From handymen and pizza shop owners, to ‘intimidating’ businessmen and resort managers misdirecting hundreds of thousands of dollars, these are the businessmen and women of the Wide Bay who’ve fronted court.
Police & Courts
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Businessmen and women are usually held in high esteem for their success, hard work and job creation, but not all business people abide by the law.
Numerous people who happen to run small and large businesses have fronted courts across the Burnett, Bundaberg, Gympie and the Fraser Coast on a variety of charges.
From handmen who went too far and lost their cool, to intimidating businessmen and a resort manager who used the rent money to pay off his debts, here are eight businessmen and women who found themselves in court for their misdeeds.
Convictions recorded:
Adam Robert Harland
A parking mishap which resulted in an elderly man bumping into Adam Robert Harland’s car seemed initially sorted for both parties.
But after agreeing to settle expenses and sharing insurance details, the handyman Harland became enraged, the Bundaberg District Court was told in December 2022.
He visited the older man’s home several times and tried unsuccessfully to get $300 out of him.
After a particular visit, something in Harland snapped, and he grabbed the elderly man by the throat while punching him in the head several times, the court was told.
He yelled, “Where’s my money c — t”, as the older man started to pass out.
Harland released him, and damaged the man’s car as he left the property, the court was told.
Following the assault Harland was sentenced in December 2022 to 12 months’ jail, with immediate parole, and ordered to pay $500 restitution to the man.
He was banned from driving for six months.
Read the full court report here.
Matthew Drane
Well-to-do businessman Matthew Drane, owner of Waterview Distillery in Bundaberg, found himself in court after a devastating break-up.
After meeting a woman on Tinder, the 46-year-old found himself dumped in 2018.
Following the break-up, Drane created an email address and sent messages trying to defame the woman, a public relations guru and former reality show contestant.
He was charged with intimidation and faced court in September, 2022.
“The accused starts one of his emails with ‘I suggest you have a bit more of a dig around about as to what your ex has been up to’,” a Port Macquarie Local Court heard.
Drane later admitted to sending the emails and said: “I was devastated and angry at the time and, out of spite and a broken heart, wanted (her) to feel the pain I was experiencing and emailed various lies”.
Drane was convicted and sentenced to a 12-month community correction order.
Read the full court report here.
Ian Andrew Phillips
A Rainbow Beach resort manager and real estate agent found himself in jail after he used rent money owed to unit owners to pay personal business debts.
Ian Andrew Phillips, 67, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Tuesday July, 5 2022 to receiving amounts of money belonging to others, as a real estate licensee, and dishonestly converting more than $219,000 to the business, Think Tank Management.
The court heard Phillips and a friend had decided to buy the management rights to a Rainbow Beach resort with a plan to later flip it for profit.
While Phillips, the real estate agent, was the only one allowed to access and operate the trust account for the business, he arranged for the friend to have internet banking.
Crown prosecutor Bruce Mumford said from 2017 to the end of February, 2019, money was wrongfully moved, at the direction of Phillips.
When attempts to sell the business failed, it was revealed $223,000 had been taken from the trust account.
One owner of several units was left out of pocket $92,000 as a result of the illegal transfers.
Fair Trading revealed thousands of emails which showed Phillips was aware of the illegal activity, which was valued at $219,128.
Phillips was sentenced to three years’ jail, suspended after six months, for an operational period of three years.
Tory George Andrew Jenkins
A Sunshine Coast man who worked alongside his family in its pizza shop wound up in jail after a wild road range incident triggered by road works.
Tory George Andrew Jenkins, 30, pleaded guilty on Thursday, February 2, 2023 in the Gympie District Court to armed robbery and going armed to cause fear in public.
The court heard Jenkins was driving behind a 65-year-old car in the middle of three lanes, surrounded by roadworks.
After angrily waving his hands around, Jenkins tried to overtake the elderly driver, almost causing a collision before driving past with his middle finger in the air.
Still in an enraged state, Jenkins then stopped his car, leapt out and brandishing a wooden-handled hammer charged towards the elderly driver.
The elderly man jumped out of his car, wielding a large torch in self defence.
Jenkins, while gesturing with the hammer, claimed his brakes were damaged and demanded compensation.
“Give me $1000 or I will smash you,” Jenkins told the victim.
Fearful, the elderly man emptied his wallet of $140.
Jenkins was sentenced to three years jail, to be released on parole on August 12, 2023.
Read the full court report here.
Rachael Louise Knights
A Bundaberg mum who managed a major local business landed in jail after she “brazenly” stole almost $42,000 from safes at the store.
Rachael Louise Knights, 48, pleaded guilty to 13 charges of fraud and stealing by clerks and servants.
The court heard Knights took thousands of dollars at a time from the very business she was expected to manage and uphold.
After initially stealing $17,458, which she paid back with her own wages, the business installed CCTV cameras near the safe, suspecting wrongdoing.
After changing her method, Knights stole a further $24,253 which was never repaid.
Knights was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended after three months to be served for an operational period of three years.
Read the full court report here.
Convictions not recorded:
Ian Allen
A farmer, developer and quarry owner found himself at the mercy of the Department of Environment and Science after failing to adhere to environmental requirements.
Ian Allen pleaded guilty to three contraventions of protection orders under the Environmental Protection Act, and one count of contravening a condition of an environmental authority in December 2022.
A Gympie Magistrates Court heard Allen had failed to develop a protection plan for his quarry to prevent scouring during a major flood event.
He had also increased the risk of erosion and sediment discharge by failing to maintain the correct slope on an excavation pit.
Allen was fined $30,000 and ordered to pay $3000 in legal costs and $1735 in investigation costs.
No conviction was recorded.
Read the full court report here.
Wayne Donald Dean
A popular Gympie businessman was sentenced in court after he made death threats to a bouncer who assaulted his son.
It all began when the 19-year-old son of Wayne Donald Dean had been asked to leave a busy Gympie hotel by the bouncer Brian Robert Thompson.
After sneaking back in, the 19-year-old was spotted by Thompson, who grabbed and pinned his arms behind his back while escorting him out of the hotel.
The teen struggled and Thompson slammed him against the hotel’s entrance door, knocking him unconscious, the court heard.
In May 2023, Thompson pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and received an 18-month suspended jail sentence.
He was also ordered to pay $6000 in compensation, but his troubles didn’t end there.
Thompson was also widely known as Triple H, a name born from a professional wrestling career.
Following the assault on his son, Dean strapped a coffin to a car, with the words “Triple H RIP” on the coffin.
The car, parked by the Mary Valley Highway, became the subject of questions between Dean and an associate, who asked plainly if the coffin was a death threat.
“F — k yeah, it is,” Dean replied.
Dean was approached by police, and subsequently charged and convicted for making a death threat.
He was fined $600 and a conviction was not recorded.
Read the full court report here.
Paul Joseph Edwards
Armed with a character reference from Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig, a well-regarded businessman faced court after a weapon was found in his home.
Forklift business owner Paul Joseph Edwards pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a category R weapon in Gympie Magistrates Court on May 29, 2023.
The 44-year-old said he purchased the silencer for roughly $800 a Gympie swap meet, when his former partner found it on the top of her kitchen pantry in a fly trap.
The court heard Edwards knew the weapon was illegal in Queensland, and said he had no reason for owning it.
He told the court he had bought it to eradicate rabbits, and placed it in the fly trap for safe keeping.
He was fined $350 with the property forfeited.
No conviction was recorded.
Read the full court report here.
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