Burnett’s violent offenders named and their crimes detailed
From a woman who tried to gouge out her sister’s eyes to a man who stomped on his victim and left her coughing up blood, these are some of the Burnett’s most violent offenders and the crimes that brought them before the courts. FULL LIST HERE:
Police & Courts
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Burnett courts are routinely dealing with shockingly violent crimes, from domestic violence incidents to broad daylight assaults.
Here is a list of some of the region’s most violent cases of recent months, and what happened when the offenders faced justice.
See the full list below:
CONVICTIONS RECORDED:
Serial biter rips off man’s lip with teeth in horror attack
A serial biter who punched his ex’s new partner repeatedly before sinking his teeth into the other man’s face and tearing off his lip was jailed.
Kingaroy District Court was told Joe Gatti carried out the horrifying attack after chasing down the couple as they walked down a Blackbutt street on New Year’s Eve last year.
Crown prosecutor Alysha Ballantyne said the frightened couple tried to run from the 36-year-old but he caught up with them, repeatedly punching his victim in the face before getting on top of him and biting off a large portion of his bottom lip.
Gatti pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
He was sentenced to three years in jail, with a parole eligibility date set for August 12, 2022.
Mum jailed for assaulting sister with bottle, trying to gouge out eyes
A Cherbourg mother has been sentenced to jail following an alcohol-fuelled attack on her sister, where she gashed the woman’s face with a glass bottle and tried to gouge out her eyes.
Sophia Francis Jacobs was walking down a Cherbourg street with her sister after a night of drinking in October last year when the two began arguing about a family conflict.
The argument escalated until the 33-year-old smashed the glass item she was holding into the other woman’s face, cutting a gash on her eyebrow and under her right eye.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Marks told Maroochydore District Court that Jacobs continued to pull her sister’s hair and gouge at her eyes when the other woman fell to the ground.
The court was told Jacobs left the victim following the assault, leaving the injured woman to get up and walk herself to hospital.
Jacobs pleaded guilty to one count of wounding.
Judge Glen Cash sentenced her to two years’ jail, warning her against drinking alcohol in the future.
Woman grabs cop by genitalia in violent watch-house struggle
A Kingaroy woman who threatened to kill her neighbour’s three-year-old child turned her rage towards police, attempting to bite and punch them before grabbing an officer by the genitalia and squeezing.
Kylie Ann Shapland was taken into custody after going to her neighbours’ property and screaming threats, including that she would “come over and kill their three-year-old son”.
When the 33-year-old was taken into the Kingaroy watch-house, she began headbutting and kicking the walls of her cell, forcing officers to move her to a padded cell.
Shapland’s violent outburst continued in her new confines, where she bit an officer and grabbed another by his genitalia.
Shapland pleaded guilty to a string of charges including assaulting a police officer causing bodily harm, common assault, and wilful damage.
She was placed on probation for 18 months.
Man brutally assaults ex-partner, leaving her unable to breathe, coughing blood
A Cherbourg man has been sentenced to years behind bars for a horrifying attack on his ex-partner that left her with life-threatening injuries.
Whardin James Cobbo and his partner at the time got into an argument about family concerns and allegations of infidelity against the woman on a Cherbourg street on March 7, 2020, the court was told
Kingaroy District Court was told the altercation escalated with Cobbo slapping the woman, causing her to fall to the ground, before the victim walked away towards a nearby gully.
The 29-year-old followed his victim into the gully and violently assaulted her, hitting her on the head and then stomping on and kicking her while she was on the ground.
Cobbo then walked off, leaving the unconscious woman in the gully.
The court heard nearby family members found the victim falling in and out of consciousness and complaining she was struggling to breathe.
Judge Glen Cash slammed Cobbo’s “vicious” attack that left his victim coughing blood.
“When you finished the assault, you simply walked away, leaving her unconscious in the ditch,” Judge Cash said.
“If the doctors hadn’t done what they did, it’s likely that she would have died as a result of the injuries.”
Cobbo pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm.
He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, with 356 days of pre-sentence custody declared.
Stockman punches pregnant partner, wraps rope around her throat
A Nanango man wrapped a rope around his pregnant partner’s neck and punched her in the eye.
The victim was talking to a friend on the phone when Daniel Jeremiah Malone began yelling at her and demanding she not talk about him.
Crown prosecutor Alysha Ballantyne told Kingaroy District Court that Malone punched the woman in the left eye, and ridiculed her when she began crying in pain.
The 34-year-old then wrapped a rope around the throat of the victim, who was 13 weeks pregnant with his baby at the time, and pulled her toward him.
Malone pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed with an offensive weapon and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, which will be suspended for two years after he serves six months.
South Burnett man shoots younger brother with illegal gun
A Kingaroy man has avoided jail time after shooting his younger brother in the leg with an illegal rifle, leaving the victim with a fractured femur.
Damian James Jurgensen was sitting in a lounge room with his brother and two others when he pulled out a .22 calibre rifle, which Jurgensen fired into his brother’s leg while “mucking around with it”.
The 21-year-old appeared in Kingaroy Magistrates Court via videolink from jail, pleading guilty to a string of charges including wounding and possessing a weapon.
He was sentenced to 18 months’ jail, which was wholly suspended immediately. A total of 187 days of presentence custody was declared as time served.
Woman narrowly avoids jail time after kicking victim in face
Jenai Purcell avoided time behind bars after kicking a woman in the face while she was down.
Murgon Magistrates Court heard a 43-year-old woman was bumped to the ground by an unknown person after a fight broke out in Cherbourg, at which Purcell was also present.
Purcell approached the woman laying on the ground and kicked her in the face, leaving her victim with minor swelling and a cut lip.
Magistrate Andrew Sinclair activated Purcell’s existing suspended sentence of six months, adding another six months for the assault.
“Striking other people in unexpected ways is notoriously dangerous. It was a matter of good fortune the injuries were minor,” he said.
Purcell pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and wilful damage.
Officer kicked in face, stomach during violent struggle
A police officer was kicked in the stomach and head while another was pushed onto a bed and threatened with violence as Paul Gregory Conomos demanded a drink.
Police went to the 60-year-old’s caravan to issue him with a warrant, which droved Conomos to lash out and push one of the officers onto the bed and say “I’m going to punch the s — t out of you”.
Kingaroy District Court heard Conomos continued to resist arrest and repeatedly said he “wanted a f — king drink”.
Conomos flew into a rage when he was eventually handcuffed, kicking an officer in the stomach and on the right side of his face.
He was sentenced to six months in jail, which was suspended immediately for 18 months.
Machete man jailed after Nanango armed robbery, shovel attack
A South Burnett man was jailed after a terrifying crime spree where one man was threatened with a machete and another struck to the ground with a shovel.
Shannon Washington pleaded guilty in Kingaroy District Court to armed robbery, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, and wilful damage.
The first attack occurred while the victim was sleeping on a bus in Nanango, which Washington and a co-offender entered armed with a 30cm long machete and stole the man’s keys.
It was the following day that Washington attacked a Mount Binga man on his property when the victim went to investigate noises coming from his shed.
The 28-year-old hit the other man with a shovel, knocking him to the ground and injuring his arm.
Washington was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ in jail.
NO CONVICTION RECORDED
‘Scared to go outside’: Kingaroy pair savagely attacked in public park
A judge told a Kingaroy teenager she was lucky a violent assault on another young woman didn’t result in a murder conviction.
Iutin Tetabo, 18, was with three friends at Memorial Park on the night of January 25 when they came across a man and woman they’d had previous conflict with.
An argument soon broke out between the two groups, which escalated until Tetabo dragged the woman to the ground by her hair before punching her and kicking her in the head.
The court was told the victim was left with bruising and swelling to the head on the night, and continued to suffer emotional trauma.
Tetabo was placed on probation for two years. No conviction was recorded.
‘The ATM was in his way’: Axe-wielding man’s terrifying public attack
A regular trip to the teller machine turned into a terrifying ordeal for a Kingaroy woman when an axe-wielding man suddenly appeared and started attacking the ATM.
The shocking incident was revealed in Kingaroy Magistrates Court, where Jamie Johnson pleaded guilty to going armed to cause fear, wilful damage, and possessing drugs and drug utensils.
Magistrate Andrew Sinclair accepted the “unusual way these things unfolded” and that Johnson had not intended to cause fear to anyone.
Johnson was placed on 18 months’ probation and ordered to pay $11,642.56 in restitution.
No conviction was recorded.
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