Steven George Davis in Gladstone court for not giving police access to his computer

A drug driving Central Queensland miner, who didn’t give police access to his laptop during an investigation, has been called out by a magistrate for his excuses.

Steven George Davis was sentenced in Gladstone Magistrates Court on February 21.

An experienced Central Queensland miner excuses for testing positive to drugs and not giving the right laptop password to police, have been called out by a magistrate.

Steven George Davis, 39, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court on February 21 to a charge related to not giving police access to information stored electronically, as well as drug-driving and breaching bail.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Kevin Ongheen said Davis was caught drug-driving on the Dawson Highway at Mount Alma on October 25.

Sgt Ongheen said this offence came on the back of Davis being convicted of a similar offence in Biloela Magistrates Court last July.

The court heard the contravene order about access to information stored electronically offence happened at Gladstone on November 19.

It was told that Davis provided police with 13 incorrect access codes to his laptop computer before telling them the code was written in a diary that they had seized.

“That diary was examined - no access codes were located,” Sgt Ongheen said.

The court heard that Davis had a one-page criminal history which included a possessing dangerous drugs offence, and a four-page traffic history.

“It’s hoped that in shielding that passcode to gain entry to his device, that he’s not entering into a new realm of potential offending,” Sgt Ongheen said.

Steven George Davis.

The prosecutor said the offence was very serious, it struck at the heart of the criminal justice system, and he submitted for a wholly suspended jail sentence.

Solicitor Sophie-Lee Oliver said Davis was a father of two who had been employed in the mining industry for 16 years.

In relation to the drug-driving offence, Ms Oliver said Davis had been driving to Biloela to attend court when he was intercepted by police.

“He instructs he was co-operative with police and he’s unsure why the test returned a positive result as he’d not consumed any illicit substances since May of 2023 but he’s instructed that he wishes to enter a plea of guilty in any event,” Ms Oliver said.

Davis’s matters took a twist when Ms Oliver made submissions on the contravene order offence.

“My client instructs that he had provided police with what he believed was his correct password... however when advised that the code did not work, he advised police that he thought the code was written in a notebook that the police had seized.

“But (he) also provided a further 13 possible combinations for passcodes that he uses for other accounts and devices, thinking perhaps his memory of the exact password for the device was mistaken, however none of these combinations worked.

“In my respectful submission, Your Honour could accept that my client was not seeking to hide more serious offending, or attempting to pervert the police investigation, as he did not at any time refuse to provide the password for the device but was ultimately unable to provide the correct password despite giving police a long list of 13 of his possible passwords.”

Gladstone Courthouse.

It was at that point Magistrate Mary Buchanan said she did not accept that.

“People know how to get into their own devices,” Ms Buchanan said.

“What was he doing the day before, and the day before that?”

Ms Buchanan then referred to the submission that Davis didn’t know how the drug was in his system while driving on October 25.

Ms Oliver said: “He instructs that the laptop was seized on the 28th of August and the request for the pin was not until the 19th of November, so he was unable to use his muscle memory to remember correctly.

“In my respectful submission, Your Honour could find that my client’s failure to provide a correct password was not borne out of a deliberate intent or choice to do so, but instead being a mistake in memory.”

Ms Oliver submitted that a probation order would be in range, but Ms Buchanan replied: “Well it’s not.”

The magistrate added: “Your client’s pleaded guilty to, that on the 19th day of November, 2023, at Gladstone Central in the state of Queensland, he without reasonable excuse contravened an order.

“And it seems to me, you’re pushing a submission that says that he’s got a reasonable excuse when he’s just pleaded guilty to not having a reasonable excuse.

“So, I’m going to stand down - you can have a talk to him because I’m just not going to accept a plea on that basis.

“So, if he doesn’t want to plead guilty that’s fine... I’ll let him withdraw the plea but I can’t sentence him on that basis.”

When this matter returned after an adjournment, Ms Oliver told Ms Buchanan that Davis wished to continue with the plea of guilty “on the basis that he did contravene the order.”

“I cannot take the submission any further regarding that, but I note that my client has capacity to pay a fine if referred to SPER,” Ms Oliver said.

Ms Buchanan sentenced Davis to three months’ jail, wholly suspended for an operational period of 18 months.

She also fined him $750 and disqualified him from driving for three months.

Both criminal and traffic convictions were recorded.