Brenton Victor Soden caused $634k damage to steal $35k transformer from Oaky Creek Coal

A career criminal claims he is ‘100% rehabilitated’ after spending six months in an overcrowded prison, and needed to be released so he could help guide his teen grandson who had the ‘potential of becoming an NRL superstar’

Oakey creek mine Glencore Australia. Picture: Supplied.

A career criminal who caused more than $630,000 in damage while stealing a $35,000 transformer from a major Central Queensland mine site claimed he was “100 per cent rehabilitated” after spending 20 hours a day in lockdown while on remand in an overcrowded prison.

“You’ll never see me in front of the courts again,” Brenton Victor Soden told Judge Vicki Loury.

The 59-year-old also said his teen grandson had the potential of becoming an “NRL superstar” after being spotted by scouts and he “just needed to be out to guide him through that”.

Mackay District Court heard Soden stole a transformer worth more than $35,000 from the Oaky Creek Coal storage yards, between Tieri and Middlemount in the Bowen Basin.

Judge Loury said “there was significant damage done to machinery for items to be stolen” with Soden targeting items containing copper and brass.

“There were two distribution boards that were so damaged that they had to be replaced in order to be compliant with the statutes regulating the industry and for them to be serviceable,” Judge Loury said.

“And the cost to the company was in excess of $634,000 to replace that machinery.”

The court heard Soden’s palm print was found behind damaged doors at the storage yard, mobile phone data put him at the site when it was broken into and some of the stolen items were later found at his home when police searched the property.

Soden pleaded guilty to stealing copper wire worth more than $5000 and wilfully and unlawfully causing damage to machinery on June 5, 2024 at Bundoora in the Central Highlands.

Brenton Victor Soden targeted items containing copper wire and brass. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

“I just want to say that I’m very sorry (for) what’s happened,” a self represented Soden said via videolink.

“I know I haven’t got a really good record in the past.”
Soden said of the 11 months he’d been in custody, six of those involved sharing a cell with a toilet positioned “three feet from where we lay our heads”.

“Prosecutors reckon that there’s very little prospects of rehabilitation... I am 100 per cent rehabilitated after enduring that, I don’t want to ever endure that again,” he told the court.

Soden said this had occurred when he was “at block C at NUR”.

“Twenty hours a day we’re locked down and four hours out and then on the weekend we’d be locked away all day,” he said.

“That’s because of the overcrowding?” Judge Loury asked, to which Soden said “yes”.

“Is this the first time that you’ve experienced that level of overcrowding within the prison environment,” Judge Loury asked.

“Yes your honour... it’s very scary and it’s very terrible, and it’s no good for my well-being, my mental health and my health is failing, ” Soden said.

He also referred to his grandson who had “big potential of becoming an NRL superstar and he’s already been offered scholarships from Broncos and Cowboys”.

“I just need to be out to guide him through all of that,” Soden said.

“Unless you do something to change whatever causes you to relapse into whether it’s drugs or alcohol then you won’t be seeing him play,” Judge Loury said.

The court heard he had a lengthy criminal history for property and drug offending, and was jailed for four years in March 2022 for meth trafficking.

He had been on parole for this when he committed the Oaky Creek offending.

Crown prosecutor Rana Aldas pushed for two to two-and-a-half years’ jail, and said it was open to Judge Loury to give Soden an immediate parole eligibility date.

Soden was arrested and placed on remand in 2024, but only 122 days was able to be declared as time already served.

The court heard Soden had a longstanding drug problem, but he said he had “overcome that” and had not taken drugs since he had been released from jail for trafficking.

He told the court he did relapse into heavy drinking after his mother died but had since stopped that as well.

Soden said his father was 87 and he wanted to “put this behind me and get out and spend a bit of time with him before he passes”.

“You’re 59 now... I would have through you’re tired of the revolving door that is the court (system),” Judge Loury said.

Sonden told the court, “I think I’ve been punished more than enough.”

Judge Loury jailed Soden for two years with immediate parole eligibility. Convictions were recorded.