Trinity Christopher London Weekes: Chaos in court as man restrained during appearance

A man has been charged with assaulting police after a wild outburst in the Dalby court, with three police officers and a security guard restraining him while supporters in the gallery joined in the spectacle.

A man has been charged with two counts of assaulting police after a wild courtroom outburst when he was ordered to be taken into custody during his appearance in Dalby Magistrates Court.

When the police prosecutor attempted to put Trinity Christopher London Weekes in handcuffs on the instructions of the magistrate, the 29-year-old pulled away.

The courtroom watched as Mr Weekes threw his body to the ground and continued to flail about as three officers and one security guard restrained him while he yelled, “You’re unlawfully assaulting me”.

The South Burnett man’s supporters in the gallery joined in the commotion, yelling “you’re hurting him” and “get off of him” as the police officers and security guard tried to restrain Mr Weekes.

The disruption came after magistrate Kerrie O’Callaghan asked Mr Weekes how he intended to plead to a long list of charges, including obstructing and evading police, and he said he wouldn’t proceed until a ‘valid claim’ was made.

“There needs to be a crime, to be a crime there needs to be a victim,” Mr Weekes said.

“I’m asking for a valid victim to step forward.”

When Ms O’Callaghan stated the court’s authority to deal with his matters and asked if he would prefer to adjourn the matter to a different date, he told Her Honour she was “committing fraud on the court”.

“You have to disperse or dissolve the trial this is the law,” Mr Weekes said.

Ms O’Callaghan asked the police prosecutor to take the 29-year-old into custody until his next mention, which led to the outburst.

In a subsequent court appearance two weeks later, Mr Weekes faced the court via videolink from jail and told the court he was remorseful for his earlier behaviour.

“I apologise for the way I addressed the court the last time I was there,” Mr Weekes said.

“I’ve never been in a place like this, it’s not a good place to be.”

Ms O’Callaghan urged him to obtain legal advice before continuing with the plea, noting he was now facing additional charges of assaulting a police officer causing bodily harm.

Mr Weekes was released on bail and his matters were adjourned to August 2.