Arson, assault, theft: Man jailed for violent crime spree

Warwick court hears man threatened to kill another man if he didn’t drop charges against his friend.

BEHIND BARS: The 29-year-old is looking at up to four years’ jail for the string of offences. Picture: kaspiic

A MAN will spend years behind bars after assaulting and threatening to kill a stranger when they refused to drop charges against his friend.

In October, Joshua John Tilmouth went to the Southern Downs man's residence to tell him to drop the allegations, with the altercation escalating into a fistfight during which he bit the occupant.

Days later, the 29-year-old stole a truck worth $40,000 from a rural property, which police traced for five days across to the northern suburbs of Brisbane, and then back to Dalby.

The Warwick District Court proceedings did not specify the location of the assault or initial theft.

Crown prosecutor Stephen Muir said police tried to intercept Tilmouth multiple times before eventually finding the vehicle burnt out at Brush Creek, near Goondiwindi.

Mr Muir added Tilmouth's most recent offending was consistent with his "appalling" criminal history, and was committed within weeks of his being released on parole.

Defence barrister Jessica Goldie told the court her client, who appeared via videolink from custody at Borallon Correctional Centre, had served multiple jail terms previously.

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However, Ms Goldie continued the 29-year-old demonstrated good conduct while in custody, working six-hour days as a cleaner with the potential for relocation to a prison farm.

Judge Dennis Lynch urged the 29-year-old to address and break his decade-long cycle of criminality and incarceration.

"I can assure you, if you don't change your behaviour, the result will be that the community protection will require that you be locked up for a long time," Judge Lynch said.

Tilmouth pleaded guilty to one count each of attempting to pervert the cause of justice, assault occasioning bodily harm, arson, and unlawfully using a motor vehicle.

He also pleaded guilty to 14 summary charges including stealing, fraud, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, driving unlicensed, evasion, receiving tainted property, wilful damage of a motor vehicle, and possessing drug utensils.

The 29-year-old was sentenced to four years' jail in addition to his previous two-year suspended sentence, and will be eligible for parole on July 31, 2021.

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