Capricornia escapee Brian Illington Trent Tapim faces court for car fire

A man who escaped Capricornia Correctional Centre has returned there, facing charges for setting a car alight on the Bruce Highway near Mackay. Despite his ‘horrendous’ criminal history, his family were in court to support him.

Brian Illington Trent Tapim.

A father known for escaping a Rockhampton jail with a wheelie bin has been released on parole only to set fire to an abandoned car.

Mackay District Court heard police had extinguished flames in a stolen car along the Bruce Highway near Alligator Creek, south of Mackay, about 4am on April 4, 2021.

Brian Illington Trent Tapim, 28, set it on fire again about 8.40am with police catching up with him months later on July 16, charging him with wilful damage.

Crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton said Tapim was given nearly a decade-long sentence for his previous offending, including the daring jail break among other various offences.

Mr Sutton said he had been in custody for 571 days, but urged Judge Gregory Lynham to not count it as time already served on the overall sentence.

Defence barrister Scott Moon told the court Tapim had grown up under a “junkie” father and had developed an methamphetamine addiction by the age of 18.

Brian Illington Trent Tapim: ‘12 page Queensland criminal history’.

“(He has) a horrendous criminal history … but he’s at the crossroads of his life now,” Mr Moon said

The court heard Tapim had a 12-page Queensland criminal history, including charges for drug trafficking, stealing fuel, stealing vehicles, burglary, dangerous operation of a vehicle and escaping lawful custody among others.

Despite his long history, Mr Moon told the court Tapim’s mother, sister, and partner were all in court to support him.

Judge Lynham said by the character reference his mother had written it was “obvious that your mother still sees good in you”.

“Regrettably and all too commonly, by the time an offender has accumulated (a similarly lengthy criminal history), it’s commonplace for families to abandon them,” Judge Lynham said.

“There is a limit to the amount of support offered.

“While I express my pessimism that you’ll be able to stay out of trouble, I hope you prove me wrong.”

Tapim was sentenced to six months’ jail to be served concurrently with his near-decade sentence, with immediate parole eligibility.

Judge Lynham did not count his 571 days in pre-sentence custody as time served off his sentence.