Joshua Dodds, Matthew Gurney, Benjamin Ponton-Johnson: Three men walk free after violent home invasion

Three men have walked free from an Ipswich court after a violent late-night home invasion saw them beat a father and son.

Three men who invaded a home late at night and “violently assaulted” two of its residents wanted only to confront an alleged perpetrator, a court has heard.

Joshua Dodds, 29, from Auchenflower, Matthew Gurney, 31, from Lower Mount Walker, and Benjamin Ponton-Johnson, 22, also from Lower Mount Walker appeared in Ipswich District Court on Monday February 14, each charged with entering a dwelling with intent by break and using violence while in company.

They each pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court heard the three offenders invaded a home next door to a family farm at Lower Mount Walker where Gurney and Ponton-Johnson were living about 10.30pm on July 3, 2020.

Crown prosecutor Hamish McIntyre said the group entered the home of Robert McRae, who knew Gurney and Ponton-Johnson well, and “violently” assaulted him and his son “entirely unprovoked”.

“(Robert McRae) was punched repeatedly 12 times to the head, ribs, arms, and body,” Mr McIntyre said.

“He was knocked to the floor.

“When Dylan McRae (Robert McRae’s son) came to see what was happening, Dodds struck him to the side of the head, near the temple,” Mr McIntyre said.

The court heard the McRae family chased Dodds, Gurney, and Ponton-Johnson from their home and a brawl broke out on the lawn during which Robert McRae had his tooth knocked out and the three intruders were “hit”.

All three offenders left in a hurry when Robert McRae told his son to get a gun.

Gurney yelled at his co-offenders to leave and immediately called police upon returning home after the invasion and brawl.

He identified himself and his address and provided “some explanation” for attending the McRaes’ family home.

The court heard Gurney was heavily intoxicated that evening and now does not remember what happened at the house.

As well as losing a tooth, Robert McRae suffered grazes and a laceration inside his cheek, while his son suffered a laceration to the left side of his forehead, bleeding in the white of his eye, bruising, and swelling.

During the brawl, Gurney, who is now a father to a six-month-old, was restrained on the ground and punched a number of times in the head. He suffered two black eyes and a bruised lip.

Dodds’ counsel Justin Thomas said his client had lived a “blameless life” apart from his involvement in the home invasion.

He told the court his client was in a committed relationship and had worked in a Woolworths distribution centre for 10 years.

Mr Thomas said Dodds was willing to pay $4000 in restitution to the McRae family and argued there was little, if any, prospect of him, Gurney, or Ponton-Johnson reoffending.

The family farm that belonged to Gurney and Ponton-Johnson’s parents has since been sold.

Ponton-Johnson’s defence barrister Michael Copely QC said his client’s risk of reoffending was also “very low” because he had a stable family environment, he was no longer anywhere near the rural property his parent and stepfather once owned, and the reason for the home invasion was peculiar to the one Lower Mount Walker address.

He told the court Ponton-Johnson was close to completing an apprenticeship as a refrigeration mechanic and played at, and was very involved with, a rugby union club at Sunnybank.

The 22-year-old was said to have been willing to make compensation of $15,000 of his own money to the McRae family.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC noted that the three men had been drinking together on the night of the incident when Ponton-Johnson told his friends about an event that had apparently occurred between him and his neighbour Dylan McRae, who was a similar age to him, when they were both children.

“I haven’t heard any evidence which would be a basis to conclude categorically whether that event occurred as you explained to your co-offenders, or not, and the schedule of facts is silent as to whether the complainant accepts that that event occurred,” Mr Lynch said.

“However, it remains relevant because it seems to me that was inevitably the reason for your attendance at the next-door neighbour’s property.”

Mr Lynch said there was no evidence of premeditation or planning and it seemed they all attended the address to confront Dylan McRae, not to assault him. He said he regarded each man as equally culpable.

He noted they all had had difficult upbringings in one way or another, with Dodds having a “psychopathic” father, Gurney losing his mother at a young age, and Ponton-Johnson losing his father at a young age.

Mr Lynch said the individuals had shown remorse, entered early pleas of guilty, and had generally “excellent” characters.

Each offender was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment wholly suspended for an operational period of three years.

Ponton-Johnson and Gurney were each ordered to pay $15,000 to the McRae family – $7500 to Robert McRae and $7500 to Dylan McRae – while Dodds was ordered to pay $4000 by way of compensation within one month of Monday.