Gympie region parents front court for crimes against children
From a blind drunk mum convicted of drink driving with her children in the back to a dad who dragged his teenage daughter 6m by her hair, multiple parents have been convicted of crimes against their own children.
Police & Courts
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Gympie court rooms are rife with people accused of committing crimes involving or against other people, some of which include their own children.
The following people listed have been convicted of committing a crime against, or involving their own children in the Gympie region in the last 12 months.
The identities of each person listed have been deliberately removed for legal reasons.
Convictions recorded:
Monster father threatens to douse newborn baby in petrol, set her alight
A 27-year-old Glenwood father threatened to douse his newborn baby in petrol and set her alight, a court has heard.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court in January 2022 to breaching a domestic violence order three times.
The court heard the mother of the man’s daughter was subject to horrific abuse, some of the worst of which included a gruesome phone call in October 2021, where he threatened to burn their newborn baby alive.
The court heard he called the woman at work and told her he had a jerry can and two lighters ready to go.
“Did you ever think when you kissed your daughter goodbye it would be the last time you ever saw her?” he said.
He was arrested two days later, and sentenced to 21 months jail, with a parole release date of August 27, 2022.
‘Get in the f---ing car’: Wine drunk dad in passenger seat as kids race through quiet street
A concerned neighbour was forced to watch in horror as a wine drunk Gympie region dad allowed his kids to drive up to 70km/h through a quiet suburban street while he sat in the passenger seat.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of one charge of allowing someone without a licence to drive a car, and one charge of drink-driving from August 10, 2021, after a trial in Gympie Magistrates Court in January 2022.
A neighbour told the court he witnessed the man yelling at two of his children to “get in the f------ car”. A 10-year-old then got into the driver’s seat of the V6 Holden Commodore.
The neighbour said the man was clearly drunk, but sat beside his son in the passenger seat while the child drove up and down the street at an estimated 40km/h.
The man’s 12-year-old child then got behind the wheel and did the same.
But when the 10-year-old got back in the driver’s seat, the car started zooming at roughly 70km/h, the neighbour said.
“I thought ‘holy sh*t, this kid is going to go through the house down that way’ (sic),” he told the court.
“I’ve seen young people die in an accident before, and I just … called the police.”
When police arrived at the property, the father said he had not allowed his children to drive and was instead teaching his children how to turn the car on and off and how to work the gears in his car; despite the fact the engine was hot.
Cries from the defendant’s other children could be heard in the background of the footage while police attempted to calm them down.
The man later admitted to drinking wine, but said he did not drive on the road.
He was detained and taken to the Gympie watch house where he was breath tested and blew 0.168, more than three times the legal limit.
He was fined $1500 and his license was disqualified for six months.
Drunk mum busted four times over the limit with children in the car
A Gympie mum was busted driving four times the limit with four children in the back seat, after picking her two youngest children up from daycare.
The 39-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence when she fronted Gympie Magistrates Court in December 2021.
The court heard police were called to a Gympie daycare centre in November 2021 after onlookers raised concerns about the woman being drunk behind the wheel.
But when police arrived, she had already left with her children.
She was pulled over on Crescent Rd, Gympie, and breath tested, where she blew 0.220 - more than four times the legal limit.
Defence lawyer Andrew Wiseman said his client began drinking while wrapping Christmas presents earlier in the day.
Mr Wiseman said she felt a depressed while wrapping the gifts, and what was meant to have just been one glass turned into several before she remembered to collect her children.
The woman had since been getting help for her habits by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
She was placed on probation for 15 months and disqualified from driving for 14 months.
Father dragged teen daughter by her hair
A Gympie father dragged his teenage daughter by her hair for 6m during a neighbour’s 18th birthday party, a court has heard.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted in Gympie Magistrates Court in July 2022, of breaching a domestic violence order.
The court heard partygoers saw the man’s daughter slap him, only for him to grab her by the hair and drag her for 6m while she tried to stand upright.
He then hit her “very hard” at least three times on the top of her leg and shouted “what made you think you could hit me” as the girl began to sob.
More witnesses later heard slapping from a shed in the backyard, before two of his children emerged.
Other witnesses reported that they heard screams of “help me” and the man shouting “you stupid sl--,” coming from his house.
Emergency services were called to the home, but the man said his daughter was not around.
She was later found drunk in her bed.
The man was arrested and spent three days in custody before being released on bail.
His lawyer told the court the man could have undiagnosed mental health problems and was seeking help.
He was sentenced to nine months jail and immediately released on parole.
Convictions not recorded:
Parents charged after children left home alone for hours
A Gympie region couple were charged after they left their three young children unsupervised at their home, where a fire started while they were left alone.
The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on June 6 to leaving the children, all under the age of 10, unsupervised for an extended period of time.
The court heard the children were left home alone at 4pm one day while their mother drove their father to work.
The children did not go because they were tired and needed rest, the court was told.
At 8pm, police and firefighters were called to the scene of a fire at the home after a green waste bin caught alight.
Duty lawyer Chris Anderson rejected claims from police prosecutor Melissa Campbell the fire was “large”.
Firefighters stayed with the children until police arrived, at which time they had been alone for six hours.
Sgt Campbell said one of the children told firefighters the father told them over the phone to douse the fire with a bucket of water.
After being transported to the local police station, the children said they were in constant contact with their father throughout the evening, including when they were making themselves microwave meals.
The parents picked the children up from the police station at 11.40pm.
Having only one car at the time, their mother had been dropping off their father at work more than three hours away, and she was returning home to take care of the children, the court heard.
Normally, she would have been home before 4pm, Mr Anderson said.
The parents were placed on a behaviour bond of $600 each for 12 months. No convictions were recorded.
Dad gives young son black eye over damaged school shoes
A 38-year-old Gympie region dad and former business owner left his young son with a black eye after he caught him cutting the laces of his new school shoes.
The man, who cannot be named under court order, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, possessing marijuana and unlawfully possessing utensils to smoke the drug.
The court heard the man, who was a single dad of multiple children, saw his son cutting shoelaces on his brand new school shoes and in a blind rage hit the boy on the left eye socket with the new shoes, leaving him bruised.
Concerns were then raised when the boy stopped going to school, and eventually all the children were removed by child safety.
Defence lawyer Jamiee Burns said this devastated her client, who was the sole carer and financial provider for the boy and his siblings, and had tried to speak with his son but lost his temper.
Ms Burns said the children’s removal devastated her client.
“He had worked to obtain housing to accommodate himself and all the children,” she said.
She said a brain injury suffered in 2014 following a car accident affected her client’s memory, and caused him to get confused, disoriented and frustrated.
The man was sentenced to 60 hours community service over 12 months, and placed on 12 months probation.
A conviction was not recorded for the assault charge, but a conviction was recorded for the drug charges.
The school shoes were returned to the young boy.
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