‘Why?’: Lee Atkins challenged his son Jason over the Yeppoon dumped drums debacle

Revealed: Principal offender Jason Lee Atkins’ response to his father’s search for answers.

Jason Lee Atkins.

The father of the principal offender in the Yeppoon dumped toxic waste drums saga has revealed he challenged his son in a bid to find out why he committed the crime.

In Rockhampton Magistrates Court last Thursday, Lee Atkins was permitted to sit at the bar table next to his son, Jason Lee Atkins, 38, for support.

Jason Lee Atkins, representing himself in court, had pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the dumping of drums in a tidal lagoon north of Yeppoon in late 2019.

Co-offender Eric Karl Davis, 42, pleaded guilty to three charges and the court heard that he was “a party” to the crime in which Atkins was the principal offender.

Atkins’ dad Lee told Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale that he had “challenged” his son in a search for answers.

“I struggle to find why he done this because the big business he had as a panel beater/spray painting business, none of the waste was ever destroyed or dumped like what happened in this incident,” Lee said.

“I’ve challenged him a few times and I can only put it down to his mental state.

“Um, I guess that’s probably all I can add to it, Your Honour.”

Lee Atkins had earlier told Magistrate Beckinsale that in 2011, Jason ran a rather large panel beating business, was happily married and owned a home.

He said in November of that year, Jason was playing with his son in the park when he slipped on wet grass and hit his head badly, which resulted in a brain operation.

“During that operation he got Meningitis,” Lee said.

“The outcome of that has been basically, lost his home, his wife and his business.

“His thought processes aren’t the same as the Jason I knew prior to that.

“Over the past few years his mental status has slowly gone downhill, to the point where now his son and Jason lives with me full-time.

“I’m not an official carer, but he lives with me and we keep an eye on him.”

Magistrate Beckinsale has reserved her decision in the matter until a later date.