List of Gympie, Fraser Coast, Bundaberg tradies guilty of crimes exposed
A large spike in Wide Bay‘s trade employment was key to building a multi-billion dollar economy but just 12 months after that boom, tradies have been thrown before local courts following a string of local crimes. Now, the tradesmen and their offences can be exposed.
Police & Courts
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The construction industry is a key piece of the Wide Bay’s economy, contributing $4 billion to the region in the 2019-20 financial year and employing more than 8000 workers.
Every big industry has its bad eggs, however, and Gympie, the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg are no different.
From sex crimes to assault and arson, these are some of the Wide Bay’s tradies who found themselves part of a growing Wide Bay crime trend where the average number of offences has jumped 15 per cent in the past decade (from 21,556 reported crimes in 2009-11 to 24,906 in 2019-21, according to police data).
49-year-old molests young girl in her sleep
A 49-year-old tradie was given a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to molesting a young girl in her sleep.
Gympie District Court court heard the victim, who was 12 years old at the time, was at Ronald Sidney George Thompson’s house when the indecent act happened.
Thompson had been heavily drinking that night, the court heard.
He touched her chest for five seconds before his hands moved downwards.
This woke the young girl up and Thompson quickly left the room.
He returned 10 minutes later and apologised for his actions. Not long after, other people in the house were alerted to what had happened.
Defence lawyer Chris Anderson said Thompson’s family initially did not support him, but after several therapy sessions to tackle his drinking habits and actions, they supported him again.
Thompson was sentenced in November 2021 to six months jail, suspended for 12 months.
Electrician burns Avoca home to the ground
A 33-year-old qualified electrician was jailed in October after setting fire to a pile of belongings at an Avoca home and leaving it to burn.
Aaron See pleaded guilty to arson in Bundaberg District Court, admitting to starting the blaze that destroyed the home and its owners’ possessions.
Firefighters at the scene on May 6 said the home had a high fuel load, with a number of items in the garage contributing to the blaze.
They had to cut through the garage door to help extinguish it.
The court heard See was found at a friend’s place the night of the fire, drunk.
When See sobered up the next morning at the Bundaberg watch-house, he admitted to the offending.
His criminal history was minimal and he was supported in court by his family.
Judge Martin Moynihan handed See a four-year jail sentence, taking into account 159 days already served.
The reminder of the sentence will be suspended for four years.
Labourer sends unsolicited picture of his genitalia to woman
A 35-year-old part-time tradie will be spending Christmas behind bars for a multitude of crimes including sending an unsolicited picture of his genitalia to a woman me met on Gumtree.
Bud Frederick Condon was supported by his fiance in Gympie Magistrates Court in September where he pleaded guilty to seven charges – four driving offences, stealing from Gympie Nextra, failing to dispose of a needle.
The most serious crime, however, was Condon harassing and sending a nude picture to the woman who was trying to sell a plant for her grandma online.
Police prosecutor Melissa Campbell said Condon harassed the victim through a series of missed calls and texts.
She said the woman told Condon to leave her alone several times, even going so far as to say she was a man in the hope he would stop.
Despite this, Condon sent the woman a photo of himself holding his genitalia.
Magistrate Chris Callaghan called the act “appalling”.
Condon was sentenced to nine months behind bars with a parole release date of December 29, 2021.
He was disqualified from driving for two years.
Fencer threatens to shoot mum, kids over pay dispute
A Gympie fencer lost his business after he threatened to “smash a client’s skull to mush” and shoot her children after she refused to pay for a fence he did not build correctly.
Between November and December 2019, Ben James Friske, 30, extorted two clients of his business, Friske Fencing and Creative Carpentry, who refused to pay the balance of their invoices, Gympie District Court was told.
The first victim, a Cooroibah woman, contracted Friske and paid a deposit for a fence and gate.
The court heard Friske worked “sporadically” on the fence.
When it was finished the client said it was not up to industry standards and refused to pay the balance of her invoice until it was fixed.
The court was told in response, Friske called her a “grub” and threatened to ”smash her skull to mush,” then threatened to shoot her and her children, smash their car and kick her partner.
The 30-year-old tradie pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion, one count of wilful and unlawful damage and one of using a carriage service to menace and harass.
At Friske’s sentencing in Maroochydore District Court in September 2020 Judge Gary Long sentenced the fencer to two-and-a-half years’ jail with immediate parole, noting Friske had been making positive changes to his life.
Gympie builder jailed for drug operation
A Gympie builder landed in jail after a search of his backyard shed uncovered commercial quantities of marijuana, MDMA and methamphetamine, as well as a slew of other drugs, including cocaine, Diazepam and prescription medication.
Tamaree’s Tyson Ashley Wynne, owner since 2018 of T. Wynne & Sons Concreting & Construction, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court to 18 drug-related offences.
Most seriously, they included commercial quantities of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 drugs, producing a Schedule 2 drug, marijuana, possessing instructions on the production of marijuana and multiple charges of possessing drugs.
Officers uncovered a trove of drugs in the shed including: 72g pure methamphetamine, valued between $18,000-$48,000; 13g pure MDMA, valued between $4000-$4500; 1.3kg of marijuana; 50 marijuana plants; a book on how to grow marijuana; small quantities of cocaine and tetrahydrocannabinol; a weapon; a number of prescription medications for which he had no prescription; ammunition; and a variety of drug paraphernalia.
The court was told Wynne was driven to use methamphetamine after his father died from cancer on Valentine’s Day in 2018
“He found methamphetamine helped him focus on his work,” Defence counsel Simon Lewis said.
Wynne was jailed for five years, with the sentence suspended after 12 months.
Hervey Bay man jailed for raping girl on her birthday
A Fraser Coast insulation installer was jailed for 18 months in July for raping a girl on her eighteenth birthday.
Point Vernon man Jasey Keepa Harrison, 20, a New Zealand citizen who had attended high school at Urangan, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to two counts of rape.
The crimes happened in a South Brisbane hotel room about 2.45am in June, 2020.
The court heard Harrison had been drinking since about 4.30pm the previous day and had taken ecstasy and cannabis, the court heard.
The victim, who had celebrated her eighteenth birthday the night prior, woke to the “sound of moaning” and in pain from Harrison’s assault.
She originally believed her partner was the man in the room with her.
She “disconnected in shock”, the court heard, as Harrison then had non-sensual sex with her without using protection for less than a minute.
The court heard the crime had a drastic effect on the teen’s life.
It would be a “long time” before she enjoyed birthdays again; she was sleepless, anxious and taking medication; she struggled being intimate with her current partner; and she felt “deeply violated”.
Harrison was jailed for five years, to be suspended after serving 18 months behind bars.
Elderly targeted in fake-tradie brothers’ $70,000 scam
Two fake tradie brothers, who scammed elderly, vulnerable people out of almost $70,000 were sentenced to years behind bars for their crimes.
Reenarto Caston, 26, and his older brother Charles Jacob Caston, 29, stole from, conned and attempted to con people into paying exorbitantly-high prices for home-maintenance work on houses in Nambour, Gympie, Beenleigh and Ipswich in 2018 and 2019.
Maroochydore District Court heard the scammers would approach victims at their homes and offer to do work such as painting, pressure cleaning and pest control.
The victims were then made to write cash cheques for the sub-par, incomplete and unlicensed works without giving costs or quotes.
The worst hit victim was a 77-year-old Gympie woman who lived alone.
She was out of pocket $61,000 after first paying $6500 for Reenarto and Charles to paint her home.
Each pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining the $61,000 between August 8, 2018 and January 5, 2019.
Reenarto also pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining $2500 from a 75-year-old Nambour man on January 7, who he drove to a bank to withdraw cash he claimed was for pest control, pressure cleaning, snake repellent and to check a roller door worked.
Reenarto was sentenced to three years‘ jail, suspended for five years after the time he had already served.
Charles was sentenced to two years‘ and nine months’ jail, and ordered to pay $1500 restitution to the woman he stole from by December next year.
Concreter punches woman in bottle-o fight
An ever-escalating feud between two women exploded into shocking violence in a Maryborough bottle shop which left one in need of medical attention.
Raynna Lee Preston, 20, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in January following the fight in January.
Maryborough Magistrates Court heard Preston and the victim “exchanged words” before the victim told Preston she wished she could break her glasses.
Preston then took her glasses off and, as the other woman turned to walk away, grabbed the victim by the hair and started punching her.
As the woman tried to fend off the attack, Preston again grabbed her hair and delivered a “flurry of punches”.
The victim was struck up to a dozen times and her shirt was ripped in the fight.
Preston’s defence lawyer said the fight was the “pinnacle” of a dispute between the pair and the offending was out of character for Preston.
Preston was sentenced to 12 months‘ probation and ordered to pay $500 in compensation.
Acting Magistrate John Milburn said the extent of the violence, and the fact that it was a prolonged attack, was concerning.
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Staff, patrons stunned by wine bottle biffo
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