Daniel James McCarthy: Man faces Warwick court over botched break-in, drug driving

A father who broke into a home and stole a bizarre range of items worth hundreds of dollars led police straight to his door when he left behind key evidence in plain sight.

A bumbling thief has fronted the Warwick court on a string of charges after a crime scene blunder led police straight to the culprit.

Daniel James McCarthy and unnamed accomplices forced their way into an unoccupied Ballandean home between February 20 and March 7, where he helped himself to a bizarre variety of household items.

Warwick Magistrates Court heard the list included a frying pan, children’s toys, a peg bag, steel-cap boots, and doona covers worth about $420 in total.

Police prosecutor Ken Wiggan said the 27-year-old was quickly identified as the culprit after investigating officers found his DNA at the scene on a cigarette butt left on the floor and a drink bottle on the kitchen bench.

The court was told McCarthy had been busted behind the wheel with meth and marijuana in his system only weeks earlier on February 12, adding to the previous drug-related offending in his criminal history.

McCarthy racked up further charges when he failed to appear in the Warwick court in July and was then nabbed driving without a licence in Toowoomba less than a month later.

Defence lawyer Clare Hine described her client’s childhood as “extremely prejudicial”, saying McCarthy was forced to live with his best friend’s parents after he was thrown out of home at 11 years old.

Ms Hine said the death of McCarthy’s new father figure only years later marked his fall into drug addiction, beginning with marijuana before moving on to ice.

“He was entrenched in a friendship group of fellow users and was basically in self-destruct mode,” she said.

“Being arrested was a watershed moment in his life and he realised he had to make some changes.”

Ms Hine told the Warwick court that McCarthy had since relocated to Brisbane to work full-time as a house painter, which helped him gain shared custody of his six-year-old daughter.

McCarthy pleaded guilty to one count each of entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence, drug driving, failing to appear, and unlicensed driving.

He was fined $2100, ordered to pay full restitution, and disqualified from driving for seven months.