Central Qld cases that left us shaking our heads in 2023
Juiced up rum balls to five finger discounts to condom shoplifters – read about the oddest cases Central Queensland has seen in 2023.
Police & Courts
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From condom shoplifters and drone-selling scams, to thieves who stole from right under a charity’s nose and next level “bloody idiot” drink-drivers – here’s some of the oddest cases that left Central Queenslanders shaking their heads in 2023.
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
Brendan Jeffrey Moisy, 39
Moisy, a Central Queensland mine worker, clocked 152kmh while .226 drunk in a drink-driving incident that was described by a magistrate as “outrageous”.
To make matters worse, Moisy had a sober passenger in the car who could have driven.
Police caught Moisy driving a Holden ute towards Rockhampton at 152kmh in a 100kmh zone on Yeppoon Rd.
Moisy pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to drink-driving and he was fined $1950 and disqualified from driving for 15 months, with a traffic conviction recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Angela Marie Rolls, 45
Rolls stole $1650 worth of jewellery from Yeppoon charity store St Vincent de Paul after she distracted a shop attendant.
Rolls asked staff to open a locked, glass cabinet so she could view some jewellery.
After she distracted the shop attendant, she took a gold-coloured ring with a certificate of authenticity, and left the store without making any attempt to pay.
Police viewed CCTV footage and four days later they executed a search warrant at Rolls’ Whitman Street residence at Yeppoon.
During that search they found the stolen jewellery and they also discovered Rolls in possession of a small amount of cannabis and a bong.
Rolls pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to stealing, as well as possessing cannabis and a drug utensil.
She was placed on 12 months’ probation and ordered to perform 60 hours of unpaid community service, with convictions recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Nathan Michael Dawes, 37
Dawes faced court after he admitted to being involved in an online drone selling scam.
Dawes advertised a drone for sale on Gumtree (Australian online marketplace) and the victim deposited $2300 into his bank account.
The victim subsequently received a package in the mail from Dawes, but the package contained a book and not a drone.
Dawes pleaded guilty in Biloela Magistrates Court on February 8 to fraud and was sentenced to six months’ jail, wholly suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay $2300 with a conviction recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Ethan Jacob Robbins, 20
Robbins was a drunk and unsupervised learner driver when he crashed into a letterbox on Yeppoon’s Bartlem St and threatened to kill a resident.
Then after police arrived, he jumped on their bonnet and smashed their windscreen with a single punch in an angry rage.
Robbins pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on April 20 to five charges including drink-driving and wilful damage.
He was placed on 15 months’ probation, disqualified from driving for four months and ordered to pay $790 restitution. A traffic conviction was recorded but there was no criminal conviction recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Melissa Anne Norris, 46
Moura resident Norris faced court for a string of charges including stealing cigarette butts.
Norris pleaded guilty in Biloela Magistrates Court to the charges including two counts of stealing.
The first stealing charge involved Norris attending a man’s residence at Moura and taking a beer bottle which contained cigarette butts.
When police questioned Norris, she said she knew she shouldn’t have stolen the property.
Norris was placed on six months’ probation and convictions were recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Alexia Anne Bailey, 37
Gladstone mum Bailey was on suspended sentences when she made the stupid decision to flog an $8 bottle of wine which could have sent her to jail.
Bailey attended Young Australian Hotel at Gladstone Central where she put a bottle of passion pop in her handbag and left without paying.
The Gladstone Magistrates Court heard that when Bailey committed this theft, she was on suspended sentences for crimes including stealing.
Bailey pleaded guilty to stealing and she was fined $300 and ordered to pay $7.99 restitution.
Acting Magistrate Mary Buchanan did not activate the suspended sentences but extended their operational periods by three months, and a conviction was recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Justin Stephen Millan, 37
Millan was employed as the head chef at Park Avenue Hotel when he used his employment to fraudulently obtain $41,591 worth of meat.
During Millan’s sentencing, Judge William Everson commented, “here we are in the Beef Capital of Australia and I have a case about fraud involving meat”.
Millan used Park Avenue Hotel’s account to order the meat and then sell it privately to The Criterion Hotel.
He made 19 transactions between February 10, 2022 and June 25, 2022.
Crown prosecutor Ken Spinaze said Millan only made between $26,400 to $29,360.
Millan was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court on November 3 after pleading guilty on October 30 to fraud as an employee over $30,000.
He was sentenced to 2.5 years prison, suspended after serving six months for 2.5 years.
Melissa Gai Clark, 47
Clark evaded police after she was clocked travelling at 145 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on the Capricorn Highway between Rockhampton and Gracemere on July 20 at 10.08pm.
Clark’s solicitor, Allan Grant, said his client “was cautious whether the vehicle was in fact a police vehicle and had some reservations, although she did see the lights flash on the dash of the vehicle”.
“She was not entirely convinced it was a police vehicle,” he said.
Clark pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on September 28 to disobeying the speed limit and evading police.
She was fined $9520 and disqualified from driving for two years with convictions recorded.
Margo Sylvia Sonnleitner, 66
Sonnleitner attended Rockhampton Police Station on January 12 at 1.30pm and handed police a clip seal bag containing a small amount of marijuana she stated she bought for $20 from a person earlier that day outside a service station.
Police prosecutor Courtney Brown said Sonnleitner told police she often smoked marijuana and thought this particular bag was not the “normal, organic, natural blend” she usually smoked and that she thought it was synthetic.
“She believed marijuana was decriminalised,” she said.
Sonnleitner pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on May 25 to one count of possessing dangerous drugs and three counts of failing to appear in accordance with an undertaking.
She was fined $750 with criminal convictions recorded.
Jason Raymond Maxwell Watson, 19
Security at The Goat on East Street, Rockhampton, waved down police on May 13 at 11pm and stated they saw Watson, who was banned from the nightclub, attempting to enter by climbing the side of the building.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Sarah Rowe said Watson had climbed onto the roof and that police had told him to stop.
She said Watson then ran across multiple rooftops and climbed up the side of Kern Arcade car park, where he was arrested by police.
Watson pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on May 29 to unregulated high-risk activities, drink driving and driving without a licence.
He was ordered to probation for 12 months and disqualified from driving for two years and six months with convictions recorded.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED
Tane James Martin, 25
Martin, a fly-in, fly-out rigger, who lives on the Gold Coast and works in the Gladstone region, faced court for a crime the magistrate described as “inexplicable.”
Martin went into the Chemist Warehouse store at Clinton where he took a pair of sunglasses and then removed eight of 10 condoms from their box and put them in his pocket.
He placed the opened box back on a shelf and left the store without paying for the sunglasses or the condoms.
The stealing was captured on CCTV and the court heard that Martin had “distinctive tattoos”.
“His image was released on social media – he was identified by members of the public,” the police prosecutor said.
Martin pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to stealing and he was fined $250 with no conviction recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Jie James Wathen, 28
Wathen was wanted on an arrest warrant when he handed himself in at Yeppoon Police Station – only thing was, he had drugs and drug items still in his pockets at the time.
And sure enough, during a search of Wathen at the station, police found a gold cone piece which smelt of cannabis in a pocket of his jeans.
They also found a second cone piece and Wathen was also in possession of a clip-seal bag which contained 0.6g of methamphetamine.
Wathen pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to possessing methamphetamine and drug utensils, and he was placed on 11 months’ probation.
No conviction was recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Lex David Jeffries, 61
When Jeffries faced a Yeppoon court for drink-driving, he told the magistrate the “juiced up” rum balls he ate had put him over the legal limit.
Police intercepted Jeffries driving a Toyota HiLux on Whitman St, Yeppoon, and he subsequently returned a blood alcohol concentration of .083.
In court, Jeffries said he had actually started drinking at 4pm on the day of his offending.
“The thing that made me over was these lovely rum balls, because we had our Christmas Secret Santa and the lady that made the rum balls juiced them up with vodka and not rum,” he said.
Jeffries pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to drink-driving and he was fined $500, disqualified from driving for three months, and granted a restricted work licence.
Read the full story HERE.
Robert John Hetherington, 39
In an act of road rage revenge, Hetherington used glue he had purchased from Bunnings to fill the ignition barrel of a male victim’s car, making it inoperable.
Hetherington was initially involved in the road rage incident with another male driver on Tanby Rd, Yeppoon.
Then later at Bunnings Yeppoon, Hetherington saw the other vehicle involved in the incident – it was parked with its windows down and that’s when he struck.
Hetherington pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to wilful damage and he was fined $800 with no conviction recorded.
Read the full story HERE.
Natasha Louise Green, 41
Green’s home on Ocean Park Ave, Yeppoon, was searched by police on March 30 at 4.30pm who found a clip seal bag containing about 4g of illicit marijuana in her bedroom, as well as prescription marijuana.
Green’s solicitor, Ken Spinaze, said his client, who had two children, received about 40g or less of medicinal marijuana per fortnight on her script.
Mr Spinaze said at the time of the police search, his client had sourced some of her own marijuana because her script had been delayed and she had run out.
Green pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on May 11 to one count of possessing dangerous drugs.
She was ordered to a six-month $500 good behaviour bond with drug diversion.
No criminal conviction was recorded.
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