Jack James Daniel Fresen denied bail for failing to appear

A young Gympie dad sobbed uncontrollably as his toddler son waved him goodbye in a Gympie courtroom, after a planned visit ended in disaster.

A young Gympie dad sobbed uncontrollably in the dock of Gympie Magistrates Court on Tuesday, after a trip to visit his toddler son cost him his freedom.

Jack James Daniel Fresen, 24, pleaded guilty to failing to appear in Gympie Magistrates Court on May 9, 2022, as he made his application for bail on Tuesday afternoon.

He was also charged with three disqualified driving offences, four charges of possessing dangerous drugs, two charges of possessing property suspected to be used in connection to a drug offence, possessing a knife in a public place, a weapons charge, possessing explosives, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving an uninsured vehicle, using false number plates, and possessing a drugs utensil.

He did not enter any pleas to these charges.

Jack Fresen sobbed uncontrollably in the Gympie Magistrates Court dock after he was denied bail.

He was supported by two women and his son in the public gallery.

The court heard Mr Fresen failed to appear in court for the cluster of previous charges bar one of the disqualified driving charges, and was subsequently pulled over by police on May 16.

He was allegedly disqualified from driving at the time, and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Duty lawyer Laura Nightingale said her client was on his way to visit his 20-month-old son at the time.

“He was going to spend a few hours with his son and (then) hand himself in,” Ms Nightingale said.

Gympie Magistrates Court heard Jack Fresen faced more than a dozen charges including three disqualified driving offences, four charges of possessing dangerous drugs, two charges of possessing property suspected to be used in connection to a drug offence, possessing a knife in a public place, a weapons charge, possessing explosives, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving an uninsured vehicle, using false number plates, and possessing a drugs utensil.

But Mr Fresen didn’t get to see his son, and instead was taken into custody. The next time he would see his little boy was from the courtroom dock.

Ultimately, Magistrate Chris Callaghan denied Mr Fresen bail.

Mr Fresen held his head in his hands and sobbed uncontrollably at the news.

In the public gallery, his young son waved his dad goodbye as he was taken from the courtroom and returned to the watch house.

Mr Fresen will be sentenced in Gympie Magistrates Court on June 28.