Byron Conan Campbell guilty of road rage assault on Bruce Highway

A cattle grazier once jailed for an horrific domestic violence attack where he bashed a woman unconscious before “branding” her, has been released on parole over an attack at an infamous Bruce Highway intersection.

Newly published court documents reveal Byron Conall Campbell faced the Gympie District Court in early 2024, three years after his September 2021 attack on a Bruce Highway motorist at Bells Bridge. Picture: Facebook

A cattle grazier once jailed for an horrific domestic violence offence has landed back in court for a shocking road rage attack at roadworks on the Bruce Highway near Gympie.

Newly published court documents reveal Byron Conall Campbell, 40, faced the city’s court in early 2024, three years after his September 2021 attack on the motorist.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Gary Long told Gympie District Court Campbell was driving along the highway when the car in front of his came to a stop at roadworks at Bells Bridge, north of Gympie, where the Bruce intersects with the Wide Bay Highway.

The court heard Campbell stopped his car “close” to the rear of the victim’s car, got out of his own vehicle and approached the driver.

When the other driver asked Campbell what he was doing the 40-year-old “quickly became aggressive … threatening to assault him and then ultimately doing it” by punching the man.

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Newly published court documents reveal Byron Conall Campbell faced the Gympie District Court in early 2024, three years after his September 2021 attack on a Bruce Highway motorist at Bells Bridge. Picture: Facebook

Judge Long said Campbell later tried to suggest it was his victim who had been the aggressor and the punch was thrown in defence.

The court heard Campbell’s criminal history included a shocking domestic violence incident at Ipswich in 2023.

The Ipswich District Court heard at Campbell’s February 15, 2023 sentencing that he beat his girlfriend unconscious, tied her up, and branded her.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years for offences which included assault occasioning bodily harm, including while armed with a weapon, and released on immediate parole having already served 422 days in pre-sentence custody.

At his March 2024 appearance on the Bruce Highway assault charge, the Gympie court heard Campbell now lived on a beef grazing farm with his parents and had been dealing with ongoing drug abuse issues.

Judge Long told Campbell he needed to “deal with whatever might be any sense of underlying aggression” or else he would inevitably return to jail.

He sentenced Campbell to six months’ jail and with immediate release on parole noting he had already served 653 days in custody for this and other offences.