Building designer Chez Taylor arrested on warrant from 2013 for driving, tainted property offences

After living a normal life for more than a decade, a Sunshine Coast building designer has been arrested after he failed to turn up to court in 2013 for driving a luxury car on meth.

Chez Steven Taylor faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court from custody on Monday.

A Sunshine Coast building designer who has made “extraordinary inroads” into his life over 11 years has been taken into custody from offences stretching back to 2013.

Chez Steven Taylor has lived a relatively ordinary life for more than a decade, including gaining a diploma in building design, getting married, having two children, and becoming a homeowner with a mortgage.

The 41-year-old draftsman however had his normal life interrupted last week when he was arrested for outstanding offences from Brisbane from more than a decade ago.

Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard on Monday that Taylor was spoken to by police on the Sunshine Coast on June 21 on an unrelated matter when officers made the discovery the 41-year-old was on a return to prison warrant.

The building designer has been in police custody since and appeared in court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to six charges including driving under the influence of a drug, failing to appear in court and possessing tainted property.

Police prosecutor Tara Miles said police were contacted by a concerned member of the public about 9.20am on August 29, 2013 about a Mercedes driving around with drug affected occupants.

Senior Constable Miles said officers found the luxury car along Gresham St at Ashgrove where they spoke to a woman, who was the passenger and only person in the vehicle at the time.

Chez Steven Taylor.

She told police Taylor was driving the car, with the Coorparoo man found at a BP service station at inner Brisbane suburb of The Gap where he admitted to driving the Mercedes.

The court heard Taylor walked to a service station to get petrol due to the car running out of fuel. Senior Constable Miles said the Coorparoo man tested positive for ice and amphetamines after a drug test.

The court heard a stolen laptop and a pipe were found in the back seat, with officers also discovering the car was also uninsured and unregistered.

Senior Constable Miles said Taylor then failed to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 11, 2013. He has effectively been on the run ever since.

Defence lawyer Matt Cooper said the man sitting on the video link in court was different to the man who would’ve been before the court in 2013.

Mr Cooper said Taylor was in Queensland for the entire 11 years and had not committed any offences in that time.

The defence lawyer said the Coorparoo man fell into drugs in his younger years while he was studying a tertiary diploma. The court heard Taylor was also on parole for serious drug matters at the time of the Brisbane offences.

He pleaded guilty in court to six charges. Picture: David Clark

Mr Cooper however said his client had not been involved with police since 2013, where it appeared Taylor did not have an up to date Queensland Transport address.

The defence lawyer said the 42-year-old was not trying to flee justice and went about his life.

This included working at a police station, getting security clearance to work at an army base in Brisbane, and conducting work in building design where he’s written more than 2000 designs.

Mr Cooper said Taylor received advice from a solicitor in 2015 that if the police hadn’t followed up with him, he suspected there was “nothing left” to answer for Taylor.

“Which unfortunately has come around to bite my client,” Mr Cooper said, with the parole board issuing a return to prison warrant when he failed to appear.

The defence lawyer said in Taylor’s spare time he volunteers in the tuckshop at his children’s school and trains in Muay Thai.

Acting magistrate Anna Smith said it’s clear Taylor had “done something” with his life since failing to appear. She opted to record no convictions against him and instead fined him $1200.

He was also disqualified from driving for six months.