Anthony James Paton fined for sneaking into Glass House Mountains quarry while drunk from bucks party

A council worker snuck into a Glass House Mountains quarry while drunk from a bucks party before passing out by the control room with a crowbar.

A mower working for a council contractor was busted after he snuck into a Glass House Mountains quarry while blackout drunk from a bucks party and passed out by the control room beside a crowbar.

Anthony James Paton, 36, pleaded guilty in Caloundra Magistrates Court on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, to one charge of trespass on a place for business and one charge of wilful damage.

The court heard Paton snuck into a quarry on Nursery Rd in Glass House Mountains on Sunday, February 14, 2021 while heavily drunk after attending a bucks party.

Paton damaged a padlock on a door leading to a hall room at the site and was found asleep next to a crowbar by a stairwell leading to a control room at 6.30am by a witness who called the police.

The 36-year-old later told police he had been out with friends for a bucks party over consecutive nights prior to the incident and knew some of the workers at the quarry.

Anthony James Paton

Police prosecutor Sergeant Lydford said Paton told police he recalled very little about what had happened over the course of the bucks weekend and could not remember breaking the padlock or how he got to the quarry at the time of his offending.

Sergeant Lydford asked for the 36-year-old to be fined and did not seek restitution.

Defence lawyer Matthew Cooper said Paton worked full time as a mower for the Sunshine Coast Council and had two children who live with their mother.

He said Paton had cut back on drinking alcohol and was embarrassed about his actions.

Acting Magistrate Raelene Ellis said the offences were minimal but Paton was running out of chances of avoiding higher penalties given his past offences.

“With your history, it’s really incumbent upon you to make sure you abide by the law or you’re going to be digging a deeper hole for yourself,” Magistrate Ellis said.

Paton was fined $350 and convictions were recorded.