Jake Edward Turner jailed for seven years for horror home burglary in Mackay region

A meth-addict who ransacked a million-dollar home, stealing more than $300,000 in gold bullion, cash and jewellery before returning to set it on fire, has claimed he doesn’t know where the property is.

Jake Edward Turner and a cooffender returning to a million-dollar Mackay property to set it on fire in September 2023.

A destructive meth-addicted thief who ransacked a million-dollar home, stealing more than $300,000 in gold bullion, cash and jewellery before returning to set it on fire, claims he has no idea where the missing gold is.

Jake Edward Turner was the driving force behind the horror home burglary of a two-storey mansion in the Mackay region.

The victim could only helplessly watch as her CCTV cameras captured the moment her beautiful home was doused with an accelerant and set on fire after it was “ransacked to the fullest extent”.

She had been overseas on holiday when Turner brought two co-offenders to the $1.8m home about midnight on September 2, 2023 and got inside through the back to avoid the surveillance camera at the entrance.

Mackay District Court heard they ransacked the home, stealing various items including $182,000 in gold bullion, $54,000 in cash and two Walther pistols hidden in a gun safe behind a bookshelf, as well as $90,000 in jewellery and $31,000 in collectable currency.

Turner and one of his co-offenders returned to the home 24 hours later with a jerry-can of accelerant which Turner splashed throughout the property before the pair “lit the fire”.

“The surveillance footage I saw showed that you got a substantial fire going on the bottom level and internal staircase,” Judge Bernard Porter KC said.

CCTV footage played in court showed the fire and smoke billowing throughout the home and the court heard “substantial renovations” of more than $500,000 were required to repair the home.

Jake Edward Turner and a co-offender returning to a million-dollar Mackay property to set it on fire in September 2023.

The total financial loss totalled about $1.3m – the owner has not been able to return home and in a victim impact statement said she “feels the best part of her life has been taken from her and she is now in a solitary hotel room jail cell”.

The court heard Turner and his co-offender went about setting the home on fire “with significant drive”, only being at the home for 13 minutes and showing a “callous disregard” for his victims.

The court heard Turner was arrested and had been remanded in custody since September 5, 2023.

Police were led to him because after the first visit one of Turner’s co-accused had allegedly returned, stolen a car and set it on fire.

Officers traced it to the property and set up cameras capturing Turner and his co-accused returning in Turner’s car.

Turner pleaded guilty to a number of offences including arson, burglary and stealing property worth over $5000.

His barrister Scott Moon said his client had a drug habit and had been affected by methyamphetamines at the time of the offending.

But Judge Porter said Turner was not so affected that he had been able to plan and carry out a sophisticated burglary.

When it was argued Turner was allegedly “devastated” by his offending and had since shown genuine remorse, Judge Porter asked, “Where’s the gold, where’s the cash, where’s the jewellery?”

Turner and a co accused stole almost $200,000 in gold bullion during a horror home burglary. Turner claims he does not know where the gold is.

The court heard Turner could not offer any whereabouts for those items.

Judge Porter pushed further, highlighting Turner had been chasing advice on how to sell the gold before his arrest on September 5.

But Mr Moon argued it “doesn’t mean he’s the person in possession of it”.

“He’s really hurt these people in a way that they will never recover from,” Judge Porter said, later finding it was difficult to avoid drawing the inference that at the time of Turner’s arrest he knew where the gold was and “could have disclosed where it was so it could be followed up”.

Before this Turner had not spent any actual time in custody for anything on his two-page criminal history.

“The facts really speak for themselves. It was a planned burglary. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of valuable property was stolen,” Judge Porter said.
“After that you returned … and set fire to the house.
“This is a serious burglary … it’s a serious arson because of the damage done to the property.”

Turner was jailed for seven years with parole eligibility after 18 months on March 5, 2025.