Wyatt Joseph Conroy pleads guilty over North Mackay ram raid

A drug addict was seriously injured and spent six weeks in hospital after an audacious plan to steal an ATM that caused $100,000 in damage.

A drug addict was seriously injured and spent six weeks in hospital after an audacious plan to steal an ATM from a popular Mackay club ended with a vehicle crash at Walkerston.

Wyatt Joseph Conroy had been with Dean Adam Birkett and a juvenile when the trio stole a ute and backed it into the Goosies Sport and Recreation Club front foyer door in the early hours of September 16, 2020.

Their plan wreaked havoc on the popular club and resulted in a $100,000 damage bill, including the written-off vehicle and destroyed ATM found dumped on the Pioneer River banks.

Wyatt Joseph Conroy pleaded guilty to his role an a ram raid at a popular North Mackay bowls club.

The juvenile was critically injured in the crash and had to be pulled from the wreckage – Conroy, 28, and Birkett were also seriously injured.

Defence barrister Scott McLennan, acting for Conroy who had been on probation at the time, said his client’s injuries included fractures to his spine, ankle, ribs, brain bleed and liver lacerations.

Conroy pleaded guilty in Mackay District Court to 22 charges including unlawful use of a motor vehicle to facilitate the commission of an indictable offence and possessing shortened weapons in a public place, which has a mandatory 12-month term of actual jail.

“The loss caused to the community by (Conroy’s) offending is significant,” Crown prosecutor Samantha O’Rourke said, pushing for a three-year jail term.

“He is a man now accruing a lengthy criminal history.”

Co offender Dean Adam Birkett was jailed for 2.5 years over his role in the ram raid.

The court heard Conroy had already served 289 days in pre-sentence custody over two separate periods.

Mr McLennan said his client had a good work history until succumbing to meth addiction in 2019 following the deaths of four friends.

“He was prescribed oxycodone on his release from hospital which didn’t help with his drug addiction, so he returned to methylamphetamine and was ultimately taken back into custody,” Mr McLennan said.

The court heard while on remand Conroy had completed business and retail certificates and a substance abuse course.

Conroy was jailed for three years with parole release on April 17, 2022. Convictions were recorded.