Ipswich Ambrose Building plumber Joel Adam McKenzie fined for string of crimes

A meth-addicted plumber contracted to work on Ipswich homes hit by the floods has faced court for an “eclectic” range of crimes including stealing car parts.

A meth-addicted Ipswich plumber who has been contracted to help fix homes hit by the floods has been fined for a string of 15 crimes committed over five months last year.

Joel Adam McKenzie, 41, pleaded guilty to charges including drug driving, possessing a meth pipe, attempted stealing, trespass, possessing a Taser and the unlicensed driving of an uninsured and unregistered vehicle and its attached trailer.

The court heard the father-of-two was caught red-handed by police attempting to steal parts off cars that were parked in a paddock.

When officers arrived McKenzie’s mates took off. He claimed to police that he was told the cars were abandoned.

Police also noticed the car and trailer McKenzie had driven to the property were both uninsured and unregistered.

The court also heard that, on July 15, McKenzie was charged with driving with meth in his system while disqualified.

And on December 15, he was charged with possessing a meth pipe and a Taser.

Joel Adam McKenzie outside court.

His lawyer, Daniel Boddice, said probation would not help his client and asked for a larger fine, as the loss of McKenzie's driver’s license would be a significant punishment as he needed to drive for work.

He said McKenzie was a contracted worker for Ambrose Building, a subcontractor for Suncorp, and would be working on repairing flood affected homes across Ipswich.

An Ipswich magistrate noted McKenzie had four drink/drug driving convictions over the past five years, although the property offences seemed out of character.

He was “persuaded” to not impose probation and instead fined McKenzie.