Kiren James Hazard sent back to jail for replica gun, drugs

Parole is no deterrent for a father of two who keeps reoffending soon after he is released from prison. This time a Mackay magistrate sent him straight to jail after warning him ‘a 100 times’.

A burglar who caused havoc in Paget in 2019 was released on parole less than two months after he was sentenced to four years in jail.

Kiren James Hazard had already spent more than 540 days behind bars after unlawfully using seven stolen cars, either driving or was a passenger in November and December of that year, and breaking into business premises.

The father of two was immediately eligible to apply for parole on that hearing date on July 21, 2021 and the court heard the parole board was taking a minimum of six months to get through matters.

Despite that fear, Hazard was released on parole on September 2 and it did not take him long to reoffend.

Kiren Hazard

That resulted in the cancellation of his parole and his return to prison.

Hazard, now 31, faced Mackay Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with possessing a replica gun, possessing a dangerous drug – tabs of the opioid-based subutex, and not safely disposing of a needle and syringe on March 13 this year.

Magistrate Damian Dwyer fined him $1200 but offered no time to pay, converting the sentence to 16 days in prison to be served concurrently with his other sentences.

“Mr Hazard, you’ve heard it from me 100 times before. Now you need to contemplate where your future lies for the next 18 months,” he said.

In last year’s sentence hearing, Mackay District Court heard his DNA or fingerprints were found in the stolen vehicles five of those times and police spotted him in the other two.

Crown legal officer Harriet Hall-Pearce said Hazard entered several business premises, cutting chains and fences and breaking windows to gain entry.

She said he ransacked multiple cars in a lot after using a stolen car to get there and cutting a gate to gain access.

Kiren Hazard arrest in 2019.

Ms Hall-Pearce said he stole about $400 cash in the haul and then tried to flee when police later spotted him.

“He accelerated away. He failed to give way and forced a truck to take evasive action to avoid collision,” she said.

When police did arrest him on Broadsound Road in Paget on December 6, 2019, he also managed to break free but not for long.

Police found 1.5g of marijuana and two clipseal bags with 0.683g of methylamphetamines on him.

Ms Hall-Pearce, who tendered 11 pages of criminal history and a document showing his previous traffic history, said Hazard had an “unenviable criminal history”.

Hazard had breached parole to commit those 2019 offences too.

He had been sentenced to four years jail on May 27, 2019 and was out on parole for about two months before reoffending.

No mitigating circumstances were submitted to the magistrates court on Thursday in what was a very short sentence with Hazard appearing via video-link.

But the district court hearing detailed a dysfunctional upbringing and drug use.