‘Mixed up’ career criminal Rick Charles Maddison was never going to surrender to police
A CLOSE friend claims gunman Rick Maddison was never going to surrender, as details of his violent past and the impact of losing his mate, champion jockey Stathi Katsidis, can be revealed.
Crime & Justice
Don't miss out on the headlines from Crime & Justice. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A MAN shot dead by police after gunning down a police officer was never going to surrender, a friend has said.
A mate of more than 10 years revealed Rick Maddison had been “mixed up” by the death of his friend, champion jockey Stathi Katsidis, just over six years ago and by a stint in jail.
“The only way it’s going to end now is he’s going to take himself out or the cops are going to take him out,” the friend told The Courier-Mail shortly before Maddison was shot dead.
The man was among friends who sent Maddison messages via Facebook urging him to surrender without taking any more lives.
He believed Maddison would have more weapons in the bolthole where he was keeping police at bay after allegedly shooting dead father-of-three Senior Constable Brett Forte just after 2pm Monday.
“I was talking to (another friend) last night and she said he won’t go back to jail,” he said.
“I sent him a message last night saying ‘don’t take yourself out or anyone else out, surrender and walk out’.
“I know he was in jail for a stint years ago. When he came out after jail he was never the same.
“Ricky would give the shirt off his back to anyone that needed help and is a great guy, always was willing to help mates.
“He’s a good guy but obviously something cracked in his head. He’s got mental health problems with Stathi and whatever happened in jail.”
Katsidis died in October 2010 after ingesting a fatal mix of alcohol, fantasy, cocaine, ecstasy and speed – with Maddison reported to have been with him on the night he died.
Maddison has a tattoo of Stathi’s name emblazoned across his chest and regularly posts on a memorial page on Facebook.
“Me and him were good mates with Stathi. He’s still mixed up from that,” the friend said.
“He is a wild guy but something’s obviously put him over the edge.”
Rick Charles Maddison was a career criminal with a violent past facing more than a dozen charges late last year when they were suddenly dropped.
The 40-year-old faced a raft of charges, including eight counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, two counts of deprivation of liberty, torture, common assault, unlawfully wounding another and threatening violence (discharging firearms).
The charges relate to incidents that took place around August and September 2015.
But they were suddenly dropped last October when prosecutors offered no evidence.
Court records also show Maddison was facing charges of torture, assault occasioning bodily harm, deprivation of liberty, stealing and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle from September 2008 – but the charges were again withdrawn the following January.
Maddison’s criminal history spans years. In 2005, the Toowoomba Magistrates Court convicted him of assault occasioning bodily harm and fined him $1000.
In 2009 he was convicted again of assault occasioning bodily harm and was sentenced to six months prison. But the Toowoomba District Court spared him from going directly to jail, instead, suspending his sentence for three years.
The court heard Maddison got into an argument with another patron at a nightclub in Toowoomba two years earlier.
Maddison punched the man in the face, leaving him with a fracture near his right eye. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay his victim $10,000 in compensation.
Also in 2009, Maddison was fined $600 for possessing dangerous drugs but the court did not record a conviction. He was convicted of common assault and wilful damage but was not further punished. He was also fined $400 for breaching bail requirements.
Three years later, he was convicted again. This time it was for wilful damage, failure to leave licensed premises and being drunk in a licensed premises. He was fined $1000.
‘You’ve lost two licences, and you’re only a learner’
A learner driver copped an earful from an Ipswich magistrate over his astonishing accumulation of demerit points.
‘Night beautiful’: Mum accused of attempted murder
A mum accused of trying to murder her four-year-old daughter - by 'gassing' her in a car - has been sentenced for breaching her bail conditions by spending time with the girl.