Scott William Trask pleads guilty to Gympie Bypass break-in

A Queensland concreter’s attempts to steal 1000L of fuel from a construction site on the $1 billion Gympie Bypass before being chased by the police dog squad came to a tendon-exposing end.

Scott William Trask’s attempt to steal 1000L of diesel from a Gympie Bypass construction site has ended painfully after he led police on a chase which ended at the teeth of the dog squad.

A 46-year-old concreter’s attempt to steal 1000L of diesel from a Gympie Bypass construction site before leading the police dog squad on a dangerous chase came to a sharp end.

Mooloo man Scott William Trask faced Gympie Magistrates Court by videolink nine months’ after he and an unnamed co-accused attempted the fuel heist, on December 10, 2023.

The court heard Trask, who was on parole at the time, broke into the site in the company of the other man by cutting through barbed wire surrounding the bypass.

They then proceeded to siphon the diesel into two 1000L IBC trailers using hoses.

Police prosecutor Alison Johnstone told the court officers arriving at the scene as the heist was unfolding were then led on a chase by the pair, who fled when police turned their flashing lights on.

Scott William Trask’s attempt to steal 1000L of diesel from a Gympie Bypass construction site has ended painfully after he led police on a chase which ended at the teeth of the dog squad.

During the pursuit diesel was spilt from the trailer onto the road, and at one point the co-accused lit flares to try and ward off police.

Sgt Johnstone said this risked igniting the fuel, seriously endangering the officers’ lives.

Their vehicle ultimately came to a rest in an embankment, and the two men fled into nearby bushland.

Police called in the dog squad and Trask was eventually brought down by one of the canines.

The court heard he was left with a 7cm gash on his arm from the dog’s teeth, an injury which left tendons exposed and required surgery and skin grafting at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

Trask and an unidentified second man tried to steal the fuel from a construction site on the Gympie Bypass, near Curra.

Trask was arrested when he tried to discharge himself from the hospital.

The 46-year-old’s lawyer, Travis George, told the court Trask had been following an officer’s orders to raise his hands and surrender at the time the dog attack, and it was his actions which triggered it.

He said Trask, who has an 11-page criminal history, then spent the next nine months in custody and, regardless of the Magistrate’s decision on Tuesday, he was still unlikely to be released before the end of the year.

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Gympie Magistrates Court heard Trask and his co-offender cut through barbed wire in their attempt to siphon the fuel from the construction site on the Bypass.

Trask’s mother, who sat in the court’s gallery during the sentencing and with whom he lived when he broke into the construction site, fought back tears as she heard the details of her son’s crimes read aloud in court.

Trask pleaded guilty to 22 charges including break-and-enter and unlawful use of a motor vehicle as well as possessing dangerous drugs, possessing tainted property, failing to correctly dispose of a syringe, wilful damage, and serious obstruction of police officers.

Magistrate Bevan Hughes told Trask he was “breaking (his) mother’s heart”.

“She’s here in the back of the courtroom and she’s been crying the entire time,” Mr Hughes said.

Trask and his co-offender then fled the Gympie Bypass construction site when police arrived, ultimately trying to escape on foot after their vehicle and its trailer ended up in an embankment.

He said Trask’s endangerment of police officers when the flares were list was an aggravating feature.

Mr Hughes sentenced Trask to 15 months’ jail, with his mother was saying “oh f---” as the punishment was handed down.

The sentence was wholly suspended for two years, and Mr Hughes did not declare the pre-sentence custody as doing so would lead to Trask receiving an “excessive” punishment.

Mr Hughes said in doing so, it meant Trask would still keep his existing parole eligibility date in December, 2024.

At the end of sentencing Trask’s mother told him she still had “faith in him”.

“Sorry mum,” he replied, before the link was cut.