Ipswich man Wayne Stephen King released due to magistrate’s ‘predicament’ with parole board backlog

A magistrate said the parole board’s backlog placed him in a “predicament” when sentencing an Ipswich man charged with 57 offences during a multi-year crime spree.

The parole board’s lengthy backlog placed an Ipswich court in an “impossible position” when sentencing a man who racked up dozens of charges during a multi-year crime spree.

Wayne Stephen King added 57 offences to his 11-page criminal history when he faced Ipswich Magistrates Court on Friday.

King, 30, was taken into custody in May after he assaulted a security guard at Ipswich Hospital while on parole.

King and his partner were arguing in the hospital car park on May 13, the court heard.

Police prosecutor Ricky Tsoi said King was yelling as he walked up the ramp to the emergency department where a security guard was standing.

An altercation broke out and King “lunged” towards the security guard with his hands leaving bruises and scratches on the guard’s throat and neck.

Other security guards were needed to restrain King until police arrived.

King was arrested, drawing to a close a crime spree which saw him amass a lengthy list of charges including assault police, stealing, possessing dangerous drugs, unlawful use of a vehicle, trespassing, bail breaches since late 2018.

King was subject to a suspended sentence and probation order at the time he committed several of these offences.

The court heard there had been breaks in King’s Queensland offending when he was jailed for offences in New South Wales in 2019.

King appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court via video link on Friday and pleaded guilty to all 57 charges.

Mr Tsoi said King’s offending was “brazen” and largely opportunistic.

He said King’s seven page Queensland criminal history and four page New South Wales history contained relevant previous convictions, many related to drug and dishonesty offences.

Defence lawyer Richard Zande said King had an “appalling” history of offences but said each of the matters individually were not “relatively serious” but had the potential to be.

He said King’s “problems” stemmed from drug abuse and intellectual disability caused by a chromosomal defect.

He said King had ADHD, autism and a low IQ.

“What this man needs is a continued period of incarceration …” Mr Zande said.

He submitted that there was “still hope” for King and that time in custody would help the young father’s rehabilitation and sobriety.

The court heard King had served 107 days of presentence custody.

Magistrate Dennis Kinsella said he was in a “predicament” when sentencing King due to the backlog of parole applications.

The court heard King was at risk of spending an excessive amount of time in custody if Mr Kinsella were to impose a sentence requiring him to remain in prison.

“The elephant in the room is the current parole board taking inordinate amounts of time, for whatever reasons it may be, it is not my place to render comment on that,” Mr Kinsella said.

He said the courts had been placed in an “impossible position.”

He said if he remained in custody King would likely not have his parole application heard until February or March.

Mr Kinsella said King had served a significant amount of time in custody already in presentence custody and time spent after he was returned for breaching parole.

King was given a head sentence of nine months suspended for two and half years.

His 107 days in presentence custody was declared time served and he was given immediate parole release.

Any items the police had seized were ordered to be forfeited and King was disqualified from driving for eight months.

Mr Kinsella warned King he needed to get help or he would “go off the rails.”