Kody Mark Brooker steals thousands from BP Moranbah for meth addiction

A Central Queensland service station employee who stole tens of thousands of dollars from his boss to finance his ice addiction also travelled at high speeds to evade police while driving his mum’s car.

A service station employee stole more than $30 grand from his work in full view of security cameras.

A meth addict servo cashier stole tens of thousands of dollars from his boss in a scheme that was so unsophisticated a magistrate said it suggested his brain was “addled”.

Kody Mark Brooker stole $34,277.30 while a cashier at BP Moranbah, a job he got after a six-month unemployment period in which his addiction worsened.

He also took part in fuel drive-offs and evaded police while travelling at high speeds.

Police prosecutor Leonie Taufa’ao said Brooker dropped 32 bags of stolen cash from the till by the safe, before taking them at the end of his shift over the course of eight weeks.

She said his theft was unsophisticated without trying to falsify documents to conceal it.

Ms Taufa’ao said the 25-year-old showed “very little remorse”.

“Even when confronted, he denied stealing the money”, Ms Taufa’ao said.

“He was in a position of trust. It was quite protracted offending and (he) was discovered by an audit.

“The fuel drive-offs were over eight days … just drove in, took fuel, and left.”

Meth addict Kody Mark Brooker pleaded guilty to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his boss in an “unsophisticated” theft and fleeing police in his mother’s car.

She told the court Brooker reached speeds of 140km/h to 170km/h in his mother’s car while evading police on a highway prone to crashes.

He was arrested in September 2022 and remained in custody since.

Defence lawyer Adam Harvey said his client’s addiction had him “only thinking a day ahead”.

“He was heavily using methamphetamine (and) wasn’t in his right frame of mind”, Mr Harvey said.

“This wasn’t sophisticated … he knew (the CCTV cameras) were there.

“There was no way he wasn’t going to be caught for this offending.”

Kody Mark Brooker stole more than $30,000 from his service station job in full view of security cameras. Photo: Contributed

Mr Harvey said his client hoped to stay and work with his mother’s mine cleaning business after release.

Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said Brooker’s “behaviour was so unsophisticated one would expect his brain was addled”.

The 25-year-old faced Mackay Magistrates Court on January 12 and pleaded guilty to stealing as a clerk, possessing dangerous drugs and pipes, dishonestly making off without paying for fuel, and evading police.

He was sentenced to two years’ jail with immediate parole and ordered to pay restitution to BP Moranbah, as well as the other servos he stole fuel from.

Ms Hartigan said it was a “significant amount of money” and he needed to start working to repay it.

“If he’s living in Moranbah and he wants to show his face in public, he’ll be doing that”, she said.

“Otherwise he’ll be run out of town, I suspect.”