Brody Alexander Wilkinson: Wondai man fined for using pocket knife to retrieve stolen ashtray

The theft of one unusual item from a Burnett home led a man to arm himself and seek his own vigilante vengeance before calling police and admitting to what he had done.

When a simple ashtray was stolen from his front yard, one Burnett man decided he wasn’t going to let it go and enacted his own style of vigilantism.

Brody Wilkinson claimed he watched someone steal his ashtray and wander up South St, Wondai.

Rather than let the police handle it, he instead went to his garden shed and grabbed a pocket knife before marching up the road to confront the thief.

The Murgon Magistrates Court was told Wilkinson produced the knife at the other man’s home and demanded his ashtray, which was promptly returned to him.

The 31-year-old returned to his own home with his recovered property and called police to tell them what he had just done.

Lawyer Jay Rose told the court her client said he took the knife because the person he saw taking the ashtray was known to use drugs and have weapons and he was “scared” of them.

Magistrate Andrew Sinclair made it clear it was not Wilkinson’s job to handle the matter.

“You can’t take the law into your own hands,” he said.

Wilkinson pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place and was fined $500.