Full list: Shocking and violent crimes that rocked Ipswich in 2021-2022
Ipswich has borne witness to a number of shocking violent crimes and an Ipswich woman who almost lost her granddaughter in a sickening attack which left her throat cut has spoken out about how more needs to be done to protect victims of crime.
Ipswich
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The Ipswich community has witnessed a number of shocking violent crimes and even though some victims are yet to find justice, the region’s lawmakers and enforcers have found innovative ways to hold perpetrators accountable.
An Ipswich grandmother who watched her 7-year-old granddaughter viciously attacked said more needs to be done to protect the community from violent offenders and victims of domestic violence.
She cannot be named for legal reasons.
On November 9, 2020, the pair’s lives changed forever when the child’s father’s girlfriend arrived at their home.
Despite locking the doors and taking shelter in a bathroom, the young woman smashed into the house, attacked the woman, and used a piece of glass to cut the young girl’s throat and sever her ear.
“She was lucky to be alive and so was I,” the woman said.
“I came close to death from head injuries because on the night of the attack I wouldn’t let the ambo’s check me over… I was too worried about (my granddaughter).
“She’s still scared, clings to me, and still sleeps in my bed.”
Despite the federal government making $5000 payments for victims of domestic violence, the woman said she was rejected because the perpetrator wasn’t a partner.
The woman said there are many forms of domestic violence, and for meaningful change to take place in the space, there needs to be more awareness on DV crimes that don’t revolve around romantic relationships.
Forced to uproot their entire lives and go into hiding, the woman said they now lived in fear of retaliation while dealing with lifelong trauma.
“We’re still dealing with death threats,” she said.
“I just want to be happy to live a happy life where we don’t have to be looking over our shoulder the whole time.”
“The court system needs to better protect everyone from violence and toughen up on it. Find room for them. Put them on a mattress on the floor if you have to,” she said.
The grandmother said when the woman who attacked her she was nly a few months off turning 18.
“She should have been tried as an adult. She thought it was a joke in court and still has no remorse to this day,” she said.
In December 2021, the young woman pleaded guilty to burglary with violence, assault causing bodily harm, committing a malicious act with intent, and was sentenced to six years jail with parole illegibility set at three years.
According to Queensland Crime Statistics, over a 20 year period Ipswich assaults allegedly skyrocketed to an all-time high of 1,757 in 2021, up from a previous high of 1,206 in 2020.
The same is true for domestic violence breaches with 2,247 DV protection orders allegedly being breached in 2021 – this number has been steadily increasing since 2014.
Big or “small,” violent crimes, especially those against children, can have a lasting effect on survivors, their families, and the community - the following are but a few of those crimes that recently rocked Ipswich.
VIOLENT OFFENDERS NAMED AND SHAMED
Brenyn Franklin, Joshua Williamson, and Terry Pullen
An Ipswich court heard three young men attacked two brothers and their father in their front yard which left one man with a cracked skull.
Crown prosecutor Amanda Robinson said Ipswich brothers Brenyn Tyla Franklin, Joshua James Williamson and their proclaimed ‘brother’ and friend Terry Pullen were responsible for the violent “vigilante” attack.
Crown Robinson said Franklin punched a man, dropping him to the concrete which cracked his skull and caused a life changing traumatic brain injury.
The court heard the man was lucky to be alive.
Crown Robinson said Pullman attacked the injured man’s brother, relentlessly hitting him with a metal pole while he lay injured on the ground.
Williamson stood and watched, the court heard.
Franklin, Pullman and Williamson, each pleaded guilty to two charges of assault causing bodily harm while armed in company, and one count of grievous bodily harm.
Franklin was sentenced to four years jail suspended for four years after he served 12 months in custody, Pullman was sentenced to four years jail suspended for four years, and Williamson was sentenced to a three year suspended prison sentence.
Mathew Johnatnon Hanrahan and Jamie Lee Hanrahan
A court heard that two brothers, Mathew Johnatnon Hanrahan and Jamie Lee Hanrahan, were sentenced in Ipswich court after carrying out a violent home invasion at Caboolture.
An Ipswich police prosecutor said a man was left bloodied, bruised, and with multiple bone fractures after Mathew Hanrahan attempted to retrieve a tool he let the man had borrowed.
The court heard while bleeding on the flood, the man was kicked repeatedly until his panic-stricken 80-year-old mother began screaming and was forced to intervene.
After pleading guilty to entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence, the pair were both sentenced to a 12 months jail sentence.
Benjamin Shegog and Daniel Melville
Armed with pipes, axes, and machetes Benjamin Shegog, 39, and Daniel Melville, 37, Melville carried out a violent home invasion, a court heard.
An Ipswich court heard two people were injured during the terrifying ordeal.
Crown prosecutor Alex Vanenn said one man had a deep head wound after being attacked with a machete and the other man was lucky it had been the flat side of the knife that hit his neck.
In late 2021 the Raceview pair each pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, armed robbery, unlawful wounding and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
Shegog received a four years and six months’ jail term, with parole eligibility set at March 14, 2022.
After spending 314 days in pre-sentence custody Melville was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment, suspended for five years.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OFFENDERS
Rhys Mark Francis Bayliss
Somerset man Rhys Mark Francis Bayliss was jailed for four-and-a-half years after he subjected his then partner to a night of protracted violence, a court heard.
The Ipswich court heard the woman’s whole body had been beaten, her neck was grabbed on multiple occasions, and she was suffocated.
Crown prosecutor Michelle Parfitt said during the assault the woman suffocated on her blood which had filled her mouth from a broken nose.
Bayliss pleaded guilty in April 2022 to the following domestic violence charges: assault causing bodily harm, common assault, and choking suffocation.
Jacinthe Leilani Gourley
An Ipswich court heard that new Ipswich mum, Jacinthe Leilani Gourley stabbed her boyfriend with a knife in a rage at Redbank Plains on July 9, 2020.
Over a year later Gourley, 27, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding as part of a domestic violence offence at court.
The court heard Gourley stabbed the man in the abdomen and the injury was so serious he needed surgery.
Gourley was sentenced to a 2 ½ year jail term and granted immediate parole.
Matthew Warren Bonham
Ipswich court heard Matthew Warren Bonham relentlessly assaulted a young Ipswich mum during a number of separate brutal attacks which all involved strangulation, kicks and punches to the head, and being thrown to the ground.
In November Bonham pleaded guilty to three charges of strangulation DV, seven charges of common assault DV, contravening a DV order, and drug charges.
An Ipswich judge sentenced the 22-year-old to three and a half years imprisonment.
Ryan Daniel Burr
Ryan Daniel Burr was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to assaulting his partner in a violent and bloody assault.
A court heard while travelling through Ipswich on a bus Burr, 24, accused the woman of cheating and pushed her head into a window and punched her in the mouth and face.
A photo tendered in court showed the woman’s body had been bruised, her lips bleeding and eyes blackened.
A court heard not long after the July 2020 attack the woman died of an unrelated heart attack which Burr claimed spurred a string of subsequent crimes.
Christopher Lee Okell
Lowood and Rosewood man Christopher Lee Okell, 46, has a long history of domestic violence and found himself in court again after attacking and threatening to kill a woman.
A court heard during one terrifying attack, Okell punched a woman more than 30 times resulting in her being hospitalised.
Ipswich magistrate described Gary Finger described Okell as a dangerous thug and noted he had numerous convictions for violence against men and women across many states.
In July 2021, the 46-year-old pleaded guilty to a range of crimes including two assaults causing bodily harm, entering premises by break and stealing, drug possession.
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