Jamie Errol Pons pleads guilty to aggravated burglary

A father of two and serial offender had recently been released on parole when he crept into a Mackay home and committed a frightening crime. Now, his new sentence and shock history can be revealed.

Jamie Errol Pons pleaded guilty in Mackay District Court to burglary at night with violence.

A serial Mackay offender was granted immediate parole over a bizarre and frightening burglary just months after he was released on parole.

Jamie Errol Pons crept into a South Mackay home in the early hours of May 7, 2021 where he had been drinking and taking drugs with others the night before.

Mackay District Court heard he had left when he was told but returned about 5am entering through an open door planning to steal valuables.

He gathered up a small safe, some clothes, about $1000 cash and a blue dirt bike when the sister of the occupant knocked on the front door.

“It is … somewhat quite bizarre … while you were executing this theft and you let her in,” Judge Michael Burnett said.

This sparked a “violent altercation” where the pair wrestled with Pons managing to push her away and flee the scene on the dirt bike, the court heard.

Defence barrister Scott McLennan said his 28-year-old client was drunk at the time and once sober, he had planned to return the property.

“Your honour could characterise the violence used in this … as something like the minimum force required to achieve his purpose of stealing property,” Mr McLennan said.

Jamie Errol Pons pleaded guilty in Mackay District Court to burglary at night with violence.

“Fortunately the injuries are minor.”

Pons, a father of two, pleaded guilty to burglary in the night with violence and unlawful use of a motor vehicle on May 7, 2022 at South Mackay.

“This offending would have a serious impact on the victim,” crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton said, pushing for 2.5 to three years jail.

The court heard Pon’s nine-page criminal history was “littered with offences ranging from street level … up to serious offences of violence” including grievous bodily harm and robbery.

Mr McLennan, who argued for 2.5 years, said Pons had been exposed to violence as a child in the family home and struggled with alcohol since a teen and also drug use.

The court heard he had only been on parole for months before it occurred and that he had not responded well to parole.

“You have not taken advantage of the opportunities offered to you,” Judge Burnett said, also accepting Pons apologised the day after the incident.

He spent 10 months in custody in remand for the burglary.

Pons was jailed for two years and eight months with immediate parole. Convictions were recorded.