8 shocking crimes heard in Gympie District Court
Two men caught running a sophisticated drug set-up and a teenage armed robber were among those who faced the region’s highest court in the past fortnight.
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Two men caught running a sophisticated drug set-up, a teenage armed robber and a man who bashed a woman in front of her children were among those who faced Gympie District Court in the past fortnight.
These were the eight cases heard in the region’s highest court at its latest sittings.
400 plants worth $360k in Mary Valley drug set-up
Two Sunshine Coast men have been jailed after being caught growing almost 400 marijuana plants in a sophisticated hydroponic set-up in the Mary Valley.
Eumundi’s Steven John Douglas Best, 48, and Cooroy’s Stephen John Halpin, 53, pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court on Thursday, April 1 to multiple charges of producing and possessing the dangerous drug and possessing items related to its production and use.
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The court heard police seized 49.5kg of marijuana at a Carter’s Ridge property, including 18kg of dried leaves.
Boy on probation for armed robbery, terrifying home invasion
A Gympie teenager has been warned he is at the end of his legal rope after pleading guilty to violent crimes including the early morning armed robbery of a corner store.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified under the law, was one of two youths involved in the holdup of Gingers on Horseshoe on January 10, 2020.
Gympie District Court heard the then 16-year-old was armed with a 30cm-long metal bar and his 15-year-old co-accused was wielding a piece of timber when they entered the store with scarfs covering their lower faces and hoodies pulled over their heads.
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‘I’m f---ked’: 32yo dad convicted of brutal pub assaults
A 32-year-old Gympie father on trial for viciously punching two men in a Mary Street pub was found guilty in Gympie District Court following a four-day trial.
The jury took about a day to deliver its verdict on the grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning bodily harm charges Kenneth James Hampton faced.
Coward brutally bashed a woman in front of her children
Gympie District Court Judge Ken Barlow has called a 38-year-old out on his “cowardly” decision to repeatedly punch a woman in the face in front of her two children.
Those same children were preparing to give pre-recorded evidence ahead of a trial for Phillip Doolan, when the Gympie man chose to enter a guilty plea to one charge of assaulting the woman and causing her harm.
Meth dealer lines up a sale while at court for drug offences
A small-time meth dealer has avoided actual jail time for organising multiple sales of the illegal drug over the course of a week, including one while waiting at court to deal with charges stemming from her own drug use.
Caloundra‘s Jodie Knowles pleaded guilty in the Gympie District Court to distributing between 0.1g and 0.5g of methamphetamine to five different people over an eight-day stretch from January 15-22 last year.
Undercover cop busts meth dealer in the act at pub
A 20-year-old Gympie man has been given a jail term with immediate parole after being caught by an undercover officer while trying to broker a drug deal.
Dylan Jason Beighton pleaded guilty to supplying methylamphetamine after he was caught making a deal to sell 0.238g of the drug for $150 at a Gympie hotel on March 22, 2020.
Judge: Amamoor dad ‘example of how meth destroys lives’
A 35-year-old Amamoor father and former businessman has been called a “living example” of how meth destroys lives while being sentenced to jail for a raft of drug charges.
Andrew William Donney appeared by video in Gympie District Court to plead guilty to more than a dozen charges, including supplying and possessing methamphetamine, possessing explosives without authority and unlawful possession of a weapon.
‘Promising’ former Gympie boxer sells meth to cop
A former boxer who once had a “promising career” has avoided a stint behind bars for selling methamphetamines to an undercover police officer.
Gympie District Court heard Mark David Hanson sold five clip-seal bags of the drug to the officer in a deal at his Gympie house on July 17, 2019.
The bags were kept in a container Hanson had tucked away inside an old sock.
Originally published as 8 shocking crimes heard in Gympie District Court
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