Drew Oliver Jackson in court for making false verified statement

An A-grade footy player and former boxer now running a busy Queensland pub has lived to regret the day he let his brother take his car for a spin, and what happened afterwards.

Drew Oliver Jackson, pictured in 2019, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false verified statement in Kingaroy District Court on Monday, February 24, 2025.

A South Burnett publican, veteran footy player and ex-boxer’s attempt to lie to authorities about his brother’s speeding fine unravelled when police overheard their plan being discussed on a phone tap.

Drew Oliver Jackson, 33, pleaded guilty in Kingaroy District Court on Monday, February 24, to making a false verified statement.

The court heard Jackson’s brother was caught speeding while driving Jackson’s car in July, 2023, but that his brother refused to accept the loss of points and decided to find someone else to take them for him.

A younger photo of Drew Oliver Jackson, 33, who pleaded guilty in Kingaroy District Court on Monday, February 24, to making a false verified statement.

Jackson then signed a statutory declaration that a third party was driving his car the day it was caught speeding, an act which appeared to be influenced by his brother, the court heard.

However, he was caught out by an unrelated phone tap the police had on his brother’s phone where the two were overheard talking about the incident.

Crown prosecutor Noel Needham said while the offence was serious and Jackson had previously been convicted of serious drug offences, that conviction was more than 10 years old and he had virtually no criminal history in the decade since.

The court heard Jackson also had a very limited traffic history.

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Drew Jackson, pictured here in 2016, was a regular on the footy field, a veteran player for the Nanango Stags A-grade rugby league team, and actively contributed to the community.

Jackson’s lawyer said his client was the “exact candidate for rehabilitation” and asked the judge to consider a hefty fine and lengthy community service without recording the conviction.

“This has gone from someone who was selling methamphetamine in the community to someone who is now a publican sponsoring sports teams and is well respected,” he said.

The court heard Jackson ran a local pub, the Fitzroy Hotel in Nanango, along with his wife of 12 years, a family business which was taken over by his parents in the early 2000s.

Jackson has been a regular on the footy field, a veteran player for the Nanango Stags A-grade rugby league team, and actively contributes to the community, the court heard.

Judge Glen Cash fined him $3000 and sentenced him to 150 hours of community service, to be completed within 12 months.

No conviction was recorded.