Zion Keanu Winnington Martin in court for obstructing authorised officer

Rangers’ body-worn cameras helped identify a Moffat Beach concreter who with an associate took off in a tinny after they were busted with three dogs at Bribie Island.

Zion Keanu Winnington Martin appeared in Caloundra Magistrates Court on June 28, 2023. Pic: contributed.

A Moffat Beach concreter and an associate brazenly took off in a tinny while hurling abuse at park rangers after they were busted with three dogs in a dog-prohibited national park at Bribie Island.

Zion Keanu Winnington Martin, 22, pleaded guilty in Caloundra Magistrates Court on June 28, 2023 to obstructing an authorised officer and committing a public nuisance offence.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife rangers were conducting inspections on April 8, 2023 at the Lighthouse Reach day area, where dogs are not permitted.

Rangers found a small aluminium boat moored near the banks of the park with dog footprints in the sand nearby.

“They suspected persons who travelled in the vessel had entered the national park with dogs for nefarious purposes,” police prosecutor Phillip Stephens said.

Sergeant Stephens told the court the rangers tethered the boat to a tree in order to seize the vessel as evidence.

Martin and another man, who was unable to be identified by police, approached the rangers and the boat with three dogs, two of which had chest plates.

Sergeant Stephens said this was a common practice for hunting wild pigs to protect the dogs from injury.

The rangers asked for the pair to state their full names and addresses but they refused and Martin began to unhitch the boat.

“The defendant continued to hinder the party’s attempt to fully investigate … claiming he had done nothing wrong and he did not need to comply,” Sergeant Stephens said.

One of the rangers reached out to grab the small boat but Martin made a motion indicating he was about to strike him with a clenched fist.

“Believing he was about to be assaulted, he immediately reacted, letting go of the vessel, stepping backwards and raising his arms in a defensive position,” Sergeant Stephens said.

Martin and the three dogs joined the other man in the boat and they left the area, heading towards Caloundra.

The rangers heard the unknown man shouting “f--k you all, C---s, do f--k all” from the boat.

After the incident, the rangers attended the Bribie Island police station to hand in their body worn camera footage and Martin was identified and contacted.

Martin told the police officers he visited Bribie Island with an associate from the Northern Territory and the three dogs belonged to the man, and they were attempting to find a fourth dog which had escaped.

Martin’s lawyer M. Taylor said things had gotten out of hand and Martin was not aware of the authority the rangers held at the time.

Mr Taylor said his client was a 22-year-old concreter who had grown up on the Sunshine Coast and he had a young daughter.

Magistrate Catherine Benson accepted he may have been under some “misapprehension about the authority” and fined him $1750.

Convictions were recorded.