Drug trafficker’s dangerous driving and assault scares motorists

A drug addict waved a knife around at a motorist at a petrol station before slashing his tyres and damaging his car.

Dillon Marshall, 25, a convicted of trafficking drugs waved a knife around at a motorist at a petrol station, drove with no lights at night, ran out on to the road in front of cars and claimed he “found” a firearm on an island.

A drug addict convicted of trafficking drugs waved a knife around at a motorist at a petrol station, drove with no lights at night, ran out on to the road in front of cars and claimed he “found” a firearm on an island.

Dillon Colin Marshall, 25, pleaded guilty on July 20 in Rockhampton Magistrates Court to one count each of common assault, going armed in public to cause fear, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated, possess a weapon, wilful damage, drink drive, drive an unregistered vehicle and breach bail.

He had been convicted in Rockhampton District Court in May of trafficking marijuana.

He and his co-accused made at least 204 supplies to at least 52 people in seven months.

Police prosecutor Stacey Bain said Marshall was at the BP truck stop on Gladstone Road, Allenstown, on May 16, having pulled in to the service station at 5.56pm and filled up the Honda Accord he was driving.

She said the assault victim witnessed Marshall’s passenger throw an item at another vehicle leaving the service station.

Ms Bain said the victim stopped his vehicle beside Marshall’s and told the pair not to throw things.

She said Marshall leaned through the Honda, picked up a can of drink and threw it directly at the victim, narrowly missing him.

Ms Bain said the can of drink landed in the victim’s vehicle.

She said Marshall then stated “I’m gunna stab ya. I’m gunna kill ya”.

Ms Bain said as the victim attempted to exit his vehicle, Marshall picked up a large knife from his vehicle and approached the victim, kicking the driver’s door and closing it momentarily.

She said Marshall waved the knife around in front of the victim.

Ms Bain said Marshall returned to his vehicle and the victim used the opportunity to run to the service station building and ask staff to call for police.

She said Marshall then slashed a tyre on the victim’s Landcruiser and used the service station’s windscreen wiper to hit the Landcruiser, causing dints to the vehicle.

Ms Bain said Marshall then drove off in the Honda.

She said that at 6.30pm the witnesses – two adults with a four-month-old baby in the back of their vehicle – were driving along Gladstone Road and approached the traffic lights at Derby Street when they noticed the Honda driving erratically behind them and also stop at the lights at the red arrow.

Ms Bain said the witnesses noticed two males in the vehicle behaving erratically, and saw police drive in the opposite direction.

She said the witnesses turned onto Derby Street, stopping at Liquor Legends and saw two males carrying cartons of alcohol jump into the street right in front of their vehicle, causing the driver to take evasive action to avoid hitting the male.

Ms Bain said the men hopped in the Honda and drove off with no lights on.

She said they followed the witnesses for a short distance before the witness did a U-turn.

Ms Bain said the Honda drove on the wrong side of the road, cutting off the witness, narrowly missing their vehicle and causing them to brake and come to a complete stop.

She said the witnesses thought the Honda was going to reverse into them as they heard the vehicle’s engine rev loudly and saw their reverse lights come on.

Ms Bain said the witnesses left quickly and about 7pm, they were travelling back out of Rockhampton and observed the Honda parked on the wrong side of the road on Stanley Street.

She said the two men were jumping out onto the street between parked cars and forcing other motorists to take evasive action to avoid hitting them.

Marshall had a blood-alcohol content reading of .116.

Ms Bain said the witnesses found police at the BP service station and reported the incident.

Police searched Marshall’s Telford Street residence on March 10, 2020, and found a firearm which had its serial number filed off.

Marshall told police he had found the firearm on an island, possibly Great Keppel Island, in an empty shack.

He also told police he “played with it” and it didn’t seem to work.

Defence lawyer Grant Cagney said Marshall was heavily smoking marijuana at the time of these offences, and sold it to fund his habit, which was how he ended up in the District Court in May.

He said Marshall, who had been sentenced to a 2.5 years prison head sentence with 365 days presentence custody declared with immediate parole release, was not immediately released from prison as he was being held on remand for these offences.

Mr Cagney said Marshall was granted bail for these offences on June 29, 2021, meaning he spent a further 47 days in presentence custody.

He said this was because of amended wording in legislation, where all matters had to be dealt with at the same time in the past, but now did not.

In other words, prior to the amendment to legislation concerning pre-sentence custody declaration, Marshall’s charges of dangerous operation and common assault, along with the associated charges, would have been dealt with at the same time he was sentenced for the drug trafficking charges in the district court in May.

Mr Cagney said the Department of Public Prosecutions was no longer accepting the legal application submitted by lawyers under section 651 of Queensland’s Criminal Code which asks for magistrate court charges to sentenced at the same time as District or Supreme court charges.

“So we are here today to effectively tidy up,” he said.

“This will be a problem now into the future where this (magistrates) court will have to consider significant time spent (in custody) on other matters that has been used up on an indictable (higher court) matter.”

Magistrate Cameron Press said the problem was with the presentence custody being declared on higher court matters, which can’t be declared again, it would have to be taken into account.

Mr Cagney said if the time was simply taken into account, then the defendant had spent a year in custody for the charge but didn’t get the benefit one would if it was declared instead of taken into account.

Mr Press said another issue that needed to be considered was what the sentence would have been for the dangerous operation and associated charges if it had been dealt with at the same time – which could have been a further three or six months on the head sentence handed down by the higher court – and that should be the sentence given in the magistrates court.

“It’s a very difficult situation,” Mr Press said.

“It’s almost creating sentences now.”

“The other option is to adequately reflect these are separate offences and not tied into the drug matters, is to sentence him to time in prison, not declare the time but have them (prison terms) run concurrently,” Mr Cagney said.

“The reality of that is he is still on parole for his other offences for 18 months.”

Mr Press sentenced Marshall to a nine-month head sentence for the matters he pleaded guilty to on July 20, along with disqualifying him from driving for 18 months, with the prison term to serve concurrently with the district court sentence and an immediate parole release.