Conan Sol Taylor, Kristy Ann Smith: Criminal couple front Ipswich District Court over drug debt beating

A meth dealer was left bloody and bruised after he was lured to a woman’s house and beaten by her boyfriend with a steel table leg, a court has heard.

An Ipswich couple have faced sentence in an Ipswich court for the roles they played in the brutal beating of a methylamphetamine dealer who is understood to have owed them a “significant” debt.

Conan Sol Taylor, 41, and Kristy Ann Smith, 39, appeared in Ipswich District Court on Friday June 24 on a number of charges which were said to have arisen from the “breakdown” of their relationship with their victim.

Taylor pleaded guilty to more than 20 offences including one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, one of dangerous operation of a vehicle, one of failing to remain at the scene of an incident, and three of possessing dangerous drugs.

Smith pleaded guilty to two charges: one of stealing and one of unlawfully using a motor vehicle.

The court heard the assault charge laid against Taylor related to an incident which occurred at Brassall on October 29, 2020 and involved him beating the victim with a steel table leg. Smith’s charges related to the same incident.

Taylor was remanded in custody on November 13, 2020, where he remained for about one year and seven months until Thursday June 24, 2022.

Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard said the couple knew their victim “through a drug association”.

“He was selling methylamphetamine. The complainant owed debts to people including Mr Taylor,” Ms Stannard said.

“Ms Smith invited the complainant over to her Brassall address. When he attended, he was talking to Ms Smith when Mr Taylor advanced on him.

“Holding a steel table leg, (he) struck the complainant to the face with the table leg, causing him to fall to the ground. He then struck him to his forearms and abdominal area, causing bruising.”

In an effort to stop the assault, the court heard the victim told Taylor he had money “in the bank” he could give him. Smith drove the man’s car to the ATM, only to find he had “insufficient funds”.

Ms Stannard said Smith then dropped the victim at a petrol station and continued using his car without his permission. She was later found by police with his phone in her possession.

The then-38-year-old woman originally declined to be interviewed by police, but did provide officers with the key to the car she had unlawfully used.

Taylor’s counsel Scott Neaves said his client had already spent a “significant” amount of time in presentence custody, during which he remained clean from drugs.

Mr Neaves said Taylor intended to continue his drug-free lifestyle upon his release.

Defence barrister Dan Boddice said his client Smith had four children whom she lived with at Rosewood. The court heard she also had “quite a good” employment history, working full-time until the father of her children passed away in 2020 and she became a single mother.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC took into account the 588 days Taylor spent in presentence custody, ultimately deciding to convict and not further punish him for all offences.

The 41-year-old was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for periods of three months, six months, and 12 months.

Mr Lynch said he considered Taylor’s attack on the victim to be a “serious” example of assault occasioning bodily harm.

“He (the complainant), it’s said, had a significant drug debt, perhaps not just to you but to others,” Mr Lynch told the couple.

“He’d been assaulted by others, apparently, as a result. That of course does not in any way give you free rein to inflict some level of revenge upon him, and the resort to violence in that way is a serious offence …”

Smith was ordered to serve a 12-month period of probation.

All of Taylor’s and Smith’s convictions were recorded and the pair was prohibited from contacting the victim for a period of two years.