South Burnett offenders and when they’ll be released on parole

NAMED: We identify some of the South Burnett’s convicted criminals and when they are due to be released back into the community on parole after serving part of their sentence.

Hundreds of people are released on parole every year from Queensland prisons after serving part of their sentence behind bars.

Dozens of South Burnett criminals are presently behind bars and awaiting their release or application for parole.

The Queensland Corrective Services annual report for 2020-21 revealed there has been significant delays in processing parole applications.

The delays are even influencing sentences, with magistrates and judges taking them into account when determining sentence lengths.

The report said it cost $207 a prisoner to jail them every day – about $2m across the state a day.

Here are the parole dates for some of the serious South Burnett’s convicted offenders:

Man jailed for arson after lighting rival’s car on fire

A Kingaroy man was chased all the way to the local police station by his victim after a longstanding feud exploded into literal flames.

Reyce Tyrone Liedtke was feuding with his victim for weeks when threats to light the man’s car on fire became a reality on September 23.

After quickly extinguishing the flames with a garden hose when went in pursuit of the 21-year-old offender.

Liedtke ran from his victim’s property to the police station with the victim, who was hot on his trail, punching Liedtke once he reached the police station.

Liedtke pleaded guilty to wilful and unlawfully setting fire to a motor vehicle and was sentenced to two years in jail.

His parole release date was set for May 23.

Full story here

Man sentenced for horror break-in sexual assault

A woman was woken in the middle of the night to a nightmare scenario, with a stranger sexually assaulting her while whispering “come on, girl”.

The horror attack in January 2021 is the stuff of nightmares, with the 43-year-old creeper forcing his way into a locked home and attacking a vulnerable woman while she slept.

Leslie Purcell was a “complete stranger” to the victim.

At 1.30am the victim woke to find Purcell touching her genitalia and saying, “come on, girl”, the court was told.

Purcell pleaded guilty to sexual assault, burglary and stealing, after the matter was initially scheduled to go to trial.

Purcell was sentenced to three and a half years’ jail.

With time already served will be eligible for parole on June 8 this year.

Full story here

Children watch in horror as mum left bloodied by drunken partner

A terrified nine-year-old girl was forced to call triple-0 after watching her mum savagely bashed by her partner, with police later finding a 12-year-old boy cowering in a bedroom following the brutal attack.

Kingaroy Magistrates Court was told a triple-0 operator answered the desperate pleas of the little girl on December 13, with the girl telling police to, “hurry up and get here, Mum is hurt.”

Officers arrived at the Kingaroy home to find the woman bruised and bleeding between her eyes and down the side of her face, hiding in a bedroom with two young girls.

In a second bedroom they found an “emotionally distraught” 12-year-old boy, police prosecutor Sergeant Lisa Manns said.

The man, aged in his 20s, had already left the property, with police noting a bloodied bathroom with holes punched in the door and wall.

The man later claimed the victim had been headbutting him and that he’d handed the phone to the little girl, however Sergeant Manns said he’d suffered no visible injuries other than to his hand from punching the wall.

He pleaded guilty to contravening his domestic violence order and was sentenced to six months in jail, with his parole date set for May 26.

Full story here

Man jailed after biting off victim’s lip in savage New Year’s Eve 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 has been 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, 2020.

Crown prosecutor Alysha Ballantyne said the frightened couple tried to run from the 36-year-old but he caught up with them.

Gatti repeatedly punched his victim in the face, leaving him with swelling around his eye and an infraorbital haematoma, a rare condition that can present with protruding eyeballs, double vision, vision loss and pain.

Gatti then got on top of the victim and bit off a large portion of his bottom lip, causing “serious disfigurement”.

The 36-year-old later took to Facebook to mock the assault by writing, “heaps of people thought he must have tried to kiss me” with a laughing face emoji.

Gatti pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.

Judge David Kent sentenced Gatti to three years in jail, with a parole eligibility date set for August 12, 2022.

Full story here

Cherbourg mum jailed for assaulting sister with bottle, trying to gouge her 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.

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.

She will be eligible for parole on June 27.

Full story here

Man jailed for shocking string of violent attacks on mother of his children

A man will spend only months behind bars after threatening to kill and repeatedly choking the mother of his children, who told police she “didn’t know if she was going to live” through the attacks.

The assaults began in April last year when Bradley Raymond Charrington, 47, accused his girlfriend of cheating on him and grabbed her in a chokehold, wrapping his arm around her neck from behind.

The court heard it was only weeks later that Charrington again choked his then-partner, this time threatening to kill her and make it look like suicide by putting a rope around her neck.

The Kingaroy father blamed the victim when he was interviewed by police, claiming she had mental health problems and her injuries were the result of consensual sex.

Charrington pleaded guilty to three counts each of choking and assault and one count each of assault occasioning bodily harm and wounding.

He was sentenced to three and a half years’ jail with eligibility for parole from July 14.

Full story here