Gympie man charged with 59 offences after three month ‘crime spree’

The Gympie man was convicted of multiple thefts, explosives, drugs and slamming into the car in front of him on Christmas Day, sending it spinning into oncoming traffic.

Luke Russell Harvey had been held in pre-sentence custody since January 8, 2020, and entered the dock in Gympie Magistrates Court wearing plain clothes, handcuffed and escorted by police.

A 35-year-old Gympie man who went on a crime spree between October 2019 and January 2020, was sentenced for 59 offences on Tuesday, including causing an accident while he was disqualified from driving.

Luke Russell Harvey had been held in pre-sentence custody since January 8, 2020, and entered the dock in Gympie Magistrates Court wearing plain clothes, handcuffed and escorted by police.

His face remained expressionless and his arms folded as his charges were read out. He pleaded guilty to them all, including stealing six cars, driving disqualified nine times and 10 counts of stealing.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of three explosives and a knife, five counts of possessing a dangerous drug, and dangerous driving while disqualified and on parole, and which caused an accident where a car drove into a tree on Christmas Day in 2019.

Police prosecutor Nick Nitschke told the court Harvey caused the Christmas Day accident when he hit the car in front of him, causing it to spin into oncoming traffic before hitting a tree.

Sergeant Nitschke said the victim did not suffer grievous bodily harm, but was still recovering from the accident.

Defence lawyer Andrew Owens said Harvey had been on his way to visit his four children in Caboolture, when he hit the car from behind.

Magistrate Chris Callaghan described the string of offences as a “crime spree”.

Harvey was sentenced to 18 months jail and disqualified from driving for two years. He was immediately eligible to apply for parole.