Rockhampton meth user Tony Leonard Rice’s tragic past revealed

The tragic past of a drug user who admitted during an inquest to a fatal hit and run outside a Rockhampton pub has been revealed during his latest violence offence.

Tony Leonard Rice outside Yeppoon courthouse for the Jim Murphy inquest, March 20, 2023.

The tragic past of a drug user who admitted during an inquest to a fatal hit and run outside a Rockhampton pub has been revealed during his latest violence offence.

Tony Leonard Rice, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on July 24.

It was during these proceedings where a window was opened by his lawyer, revealing a glimpse into Rice’s personal history.

Defence lawyer Nick Crawford said Rice was a good rugby league player, making it onto representative teams when he was growing up.

He said Rice went on to work at the meatworks and a nursery after school.

Mr Crawford said his client has four children living in Victoria and one in Rockhampton, but has limited contact with her.

He said Rice’s five-year-old son died from Legionnaires’ disease in 2012 while living in Mt Isa.

“There was a coroner’s inquest into the matter (in Townsville),” Mr Crawford said.

He said the mother of the child provided information about the child’s care and there was a decision about the lack of care provided by the Mt Isa Hospital into the death of his five-year-old son.

Mr Crawford said the assault before the court this month took place in January 2023, but the victim did not make a complaint until September 2023.

He said it was not clear why it had taken so long for the complaint to take so long and after that and there was some issue with medical document disclosure which held up it being finalised.

Police prosecutor Claudia Neill-Ballantine said Rice had an argument with the victim at a Rockhampton residence on January 7, 2023, regarding a property dispute.

“He proceeded to swing his fist and hit the victim in the right ear (after) following her into a room,” she said.

“It’s unclear what the nature of the relationship is between the parties.”

Ms Neill-Ballantine said Rice had a “deplorable” history of violent offending, with 17 violent offences in his history and the last sentence for the same offence in March 2018 leading him to be sentenced to 3.5 years prison.

Rice pleaded guilty in February 2024 in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton to one count of possessing a schedule one drug in excess of two grams.

His sentencing has been adjourned for a date to be set later due to other outstanding charges that need to be moved to the Supreme Court.

Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale sentenced Rice on July 24 to a 12 month prison term for the AOBH, wholly suspended and operational for two years.

Rice was remanded in custody for the Supreme Court matters.

Hit and run in 2023

Rice had his charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions in January 2023 in relation to the hit-and-run crash outside the Brunswick Hotel in 2019 that killed Rockhampton man James “Jimmy” Sidney Murphy.

In March of 2023, Rice made a bombshell admission while giving evidence on day two of an inquest held to uncover who killed Mr Murphy in a hit-and-run crash outside the Brunswick Hotel in 2019.

James Sidney Murphy, 79, was fatally injured in a hit-and-run crash outside the Brunswick Hotel in Archer Street, Rockhampton, about 8.20pm on August 17, 2019.

After being granted immunity by Coroner David O’Connell at the Yeppoon courthouse, Mr Rice admitted to driving a purple Ford on Archer St about 8.20pm on August 17.

He said there was an accident and admitted to driving without headlights on.

CCTV footage collected by police showed one vehicle travelling down Archer St towards West St with its headlights on, and another without headlights travelling in the opposite direction.

Coroner O’Connell surmised to the court that Jimmy had seen the first vehicle and suffered “night blindness” due to looking at the first vehicle’s lights, and therefore didn’t see the purple Ford if he had looked in that direction before moving to cross the road.

“I’m sorry,” Mr Rice told the inquest when asked what he wanted to say to Jimmy’s family.

“I know sorry doesn’t bring him back.”

The inquest had heard the vehicle’s owner had lent the car to someone else who told the owner they had sold it to Mr Rice for “a g and a half of meth” (1.5g of methamphetamines).