Central QLD judge rules himself out of Bruce Arthur Kerr case

A stunning development has unfolded in the matter of an IT guru who allegedly targeted his lucrative client’s business systems over unpaid invoices.

Bruce Kerr is a Rockhampton business owner accused of extortion and computer hacking by a former customer. He will have his charges dealt with by a visiting judge after Central Queensland’s judge ruled himself out.

A Rockhampton business owner accused of extortion and computer hacking by a former customer will have his charges dealt with by a visiting judge, after Central Queensland’s judge ruled himself out.

Bruce Arthur Kerr is charged with extortion and computer hacking over allegations he threatened to interfere with a client’s computer systems if he wasn’t paid.

Judge Jeff Clarke informed parties he “won’t have anything to do with this matter other than mentions and listing”.

No reason for the move was provided during court proceedings.

The decision follows a hearing in July where magistrate Jason Schubert ordered Mr Kerr to stand trial.

The owner of Kerr Solutions IT, Berserker, claimed through barrister Andrew Hoare in Rockhampton Magistrates Court during the hearing that he legally was allowed to carry out actions that caused disruption to the customer’s $150,000-a-day business operations.

Mr Schubert said the IT business owner allegedly threatened to cut off client Green Steel’s computers, which were operating to a server under Mr Kerr’s control, if outstanding invoices were not paid by 2pm.

He said Mr Kerr allegedly put the threat in writing when he emailed Green Steel owner Brett Steven Green at 1.15pm on May 27, again asking for the invoices to be paid by 2pm to “guarantee uninterrupted access to all their business systems”.

Green Steel sells steel products in retail and wholesale fashion, with three branches in Queensland – Brisbane, Rockhampton and Emerald – and employs about 50 people.

According to court documents The Morning Bulletin viewed in July, Mr Green wrote in a statement that Mr Kerr hand-delivered two invoices about May 17 0r 18, which had ‘discount expiry’ due dates of May 27, 2021, and June 30, 2021.

“The invoices did not state any actual terms, just a discount expiry,” Mr Green wrote.

“I closely examined the invoices and identified that the itemised services and products that (Mr Kerr) was billing us for were not what we had asked him to do.

“From then on though, there was nothing but problems with our systems.

“The system would crash all the time and we had nothing but problems with it.”

The court heard on December 9 that defence barrister Andrew Hoare had been briefed and Mr Kerr’s legal team were not yet in a position to advise the court if the matter is to go to trial or not.

Judge Clarke adjourned the matter to February 17, 2023.