Rockhampton magistrate Cameron Press told a homeless domestic violence offender to sleep on the riverbank

A man who claimed he had no where else to go due to the housing crisis in Central Queensland has been told by a magistrate to sleep outside near the river instead of breaching domestic violence orders.

A man who claimed he had no where else to go due to the housing crisis in Central Queensland has been told by a magistrate to sleep on the riverbank instead of breaching domestic violence orders by staying at prohibited locations.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty on March 22 in Rockhampton Magistrates Court to one count of breaching a domestic violence order.

Police prosecutor Brandy Butler said police responded to a verbal disturbance at the victim’s address at 1.42am on March 22.

She said the victim met police at the front door and told them the defendant was in the house.

Police searched the house and found the defendant hiding in the corner of a bathroom.

The victim told police the defendant had been residing there since he was released from jail, about three weeks prior, and he had been drinking alcohol that night and misplaced a bottle of alcohol in the bedroom

She said the defendant then yelled “where the f--- is it?” before entering the bedroom and the victim told him where the alcohol was.

He went on to swipe items off a table.

The victim told police she pretended to be asleep at this point, but could hear the defendant searching for the bottle of alcohol and slamming doors.

He has a seven-page criminal record which included his last court appearance on March 3, 2022, where he was convicted of four DV breaches and wilful exposure, receiving a nine-month prison term suspended for 12 months.

Before that, he was sentenced in July 2021 for domestic violence offences which involved common assault offences where he received a nine-month prison term.

Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said the defendant was 44 years old and had worked since being released from prison.

She said he instructed he had no where else to go at the time and accepted he needed to address his alcohol consumption.

The defendant, from the dock, told the court since his release, he really didn’t have anywhere to go and had tried all the organisations that helped people find accommodation but “they were all fully booked”.

“I don’t care. I really don’t care,” Magistrate Cameron Press said.

He said the court order was that the defendant could not go to the victim’s residence “and the court told you that for a reason”.

The defendant responded asking if the magistrate expected him to sleep on the riverbank, to which Mr Press said ‘yes’.

“That’s where you go,” he said.

The defendant said he had been staying on the riverbank at times.

Mr Press said the defendant had an appalling history of breaching protection orders and acts of domestic violence, first convicted in September 2016 of an assault occasioning bodily harm domestic violence offence.

He said by breaching the order here, the defendant believed he could breach it when circumstances warranted it.

“There are no circumstances that warrant you breaching that order,” he said.

Mr Press sentenced the defendant to six-months prison, activated the suspended sentences to run concurrently, declared 93 days presentence custody and set parole release on May 20, 2022.