Strangest crimes from Southern Downs’ courtrooms revealed
From a man who sold a Jeep he didn’t own to pay for drugs, to a woman who pinched 27 cans of dog food, these are some of the most bizarre cases heard in Southern Downs’ courts in the past year.
Warwick
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From a woman who helped herself to a five-finger discount from the same store in a matter of weeks to a man who sold a car he didn’t own, here are some of the most bizarre cases to go before courts in the Southern Downs.
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
‘Testosterone match’ leads man to crash car, speed off
A Warwick driver who fled the scene of a car crash was hit with a hefty fine for “deliberately” driving dangerously, with male bravado to blame.
Leighton Shayne Locke faced Warwick Magistrates Court on July 12 where he pleaded guilty to one charge each of dangerous operation of a vehicle, failure to comply with duty as a driver involved in a crash and failing to have a licence plate on the vehicle.
The court was told that on May 7, the 25-year-old was driving on McEvoy St after getting his car ready for an event at the Raceway to go “drifting,” defence lawyer Sarah Campbell said.
A witness later told police they had observed two cars skidding around a wet roundabout following a patch of rain earlier, the court was told.
As the other car was also drifting along McEvoy St, the street race escalated quickly, leading to Locke losing control of the vehicle. The court was told Locke “panicked” before running away from the scene.
“This is an intentional drive, this sort of behaviour is certainly not appropriate and should not be tolerated,” magistrate Andrew Cridland said.
Locke received a $2500 fine and was suspended from driving for nine months.
Clydesdale player busted trying to drive to Sydney while drunk
A Darling Downs footballer made a bizarre admission to police after being pulled over at 1am.
Alex Clint Donn was pulled over on Tooth St on April 22, and pleaded guilty a month later in Warwick Magistrates Court to drink driving over the middle alcohol limit.
Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa told the court that police observed a vehicle on Bisley St which was driving at speed, swerving quickly and cutting corners.
“The vehicle was travelling in a circle and appeared to be lost,” Sergeant De Lissa said.
The 20-year-old was pulled over and gave officers his licence and told them “I’m going to go over, just lock me up”.
He told police he was told a family member had passed away, grabbed his bag and was “heading to Sydney to be with his family”. The P2 licence holder then blew a reading of 0.127 BAC.
He is currently listed in the Western Clydesdales under-21 Squad while also being a concreter in the Southern Downs area.
“It was not a great idea to drive, and truly you were never going to be acceptable to drive, and your manner of driving is what brought the police to you,” magistrate Virginia Sturgess said.
Donn was fined $600 and suspended from driving for four months.
Offender busted committing same crime, within same month in exact same way
A Warwick woman has returned to court where her offending has been labelled as “odd” by the magistrate.
Laura Mellissa Monaghan plead guilty to two charges of unauthorised dealing with shop goods on May 15.
The court was told how the 27-year-old stole from a Warwick pharmacy on two occasions in October last year.
On October 4, Monaghan stole foundation valued at $39.99. Weeks later, on October 22, the woman visited the same store and stole skin tag remover valued at $33.62.
The court was told Monaghan’s offending was “deliberate” with the thefts occurring “in a rather odd manner” that involved the woman going to the counter to fill a script, grabbing random items in a carry basket, before unwrapping the product from its packaging and stuffing them down her shirt – on both occurrences.
Monaghan then paid for the items in the basket, before leaving the store with the stolen item in her shirt.
“Neither of these items seem to be things that you desperately needed to have, they’re not urgent items you needed,” Ms Sturgess said.
Monaghan was fined $200 for the offending and ordered to pay restitutions for the stolen goods.
Man goes on dangerous driving spree to celebrate getting licence back
A Stanthorpe man who went on a two-hour dangerous driving spree throughout the town had just got his licence back that day, a court has been told.
Callum Alexander Buntak pleaded guilty to two counts of driving without due care when he appeared in Stanthorpe Magistrates Court on March 8, relating to an incident which took placethe year prior.
The court was told the 24-year-old plumber went on the wild spree on August 23, the day he got his licence back after a previous period of suspension.
Defence lawyer Steve McCrohan said Buntak’s behaviour was “beyond poor” and the man “regrets his actions from that day”.
The court was told police received multiple calls during the period of offending of “dangerous driving around main streets” including “revving engine, doing burnouts and doing laps around town.”
The first driving without due care charge related to an incident around 1.30pm at a busy industrial estate on Gourlas Court, causing smoke and noise, and resulting in the car ending up on the wrong side of the road, all captured on CCTV.
About an hour later, Buntak, still on his driving spree, failed to give way to a pedestrian on Maryland St, resulting in a second driving without due care charge.
Ms Sturgess told the court a witness came forward and provided a statement that her and her children were almost hit by Buntak as he drove recklessly throughout Stanthorpe during school collection time.
“She feared the safety of her and her three children who were in the car with her, and she had to take action to prevent a crash,” the magistrate said.
“This is a very strange way to celebrate the return of your drivers licence, by doing two hours of intentional driving that would just about guarantee you were going to throw your licence away again.”
Buntak received a $1200 fine and received a two month suspension from driving.
‘That’s just being greedy’: Magistrate slams food thief
Neva-May Joyce Ives pleaded guilty to two charges of stealing after the then-35-year-old mother of seven was caught stealing large quantities of food one two separate occasions in November.
On November 2, Ives was picked up on camera stealing $158 worth of honey and gift packs from an unattended stall, Warwick Magistrates Court was told on December 12.
About a week later on November 10, Ives was caught again on CCTV stealing 27 cans of dog food out of a trolley left outside a store, before loading them into her car and taking off.
The court was told that Ives told police she “thought the items were unattended”.
Magistrate Virginia Sturgess revealed to the court that Ives had prior convictions for forgery in 2011.
“Taking one jar of honey to feed your children is different to taking three gift packs valued at $150, that’s just being greedy, similarly 27 cans of dog food, is greedy,” Ms Sturgess said.
“You don’t know who you’re stealing from or what sort of financial difficulties they might be in, or how many children they need to feed.”
Ives was sentenced to a nine month probation order and ordered to pay the $158 back to the honey stall owner.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED
Streaming service causes woman to smash front door
A friendly gesture turned into a violent feud between one woman and her next door neighbour following a dispute over the use of a streaming service.
Kristi-Anne Hill, 44, pleaded guilty to wilful damage relating to the incident which took place on April 27.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve de Lissa said at around 2.50pm that afternoon, yelling and abuse could be heard at a Warwick residence, with two neighbours arguing about money owed.
The squabble quickly escalated, with the court told that Hill pushed a broom through the neighbour’s screen door and began kicking it.
The offending was labelled as “out of character” and out of “sheer frustration” by Hill’s defence lawyer Clare Hine.
Ms Hine revealed the context of the offending was that Hill, who had become somewhat “friendly” with her neighbour over the years, had paid for the Disney+ subscription of the neighbour as a one-off gesture.
“Just prior to the offending, the victim of the matter had renewed the subscription but had used Hill’s bank details instead of her own, with Hill just wanting to find out how it could be resolved,” Ms Hine told the court.
Magistrate Andrew Cridland said there was nothing in Hill’s past history that was of a like nature and accepted that as a credit in her favour.
Hill was fined $500 and no conviction was recorded.
Warwick dad stole horses and sold to abattoir
A Warwick man has fronted court after he stole four horses from a Southern Downs property, and then later sold the horses to an abattoir.
Walter George Fuller, 54, stole the horses from the property over the course of a month in June 2022, Warwick Magistrates Court heard.
On July 19, Fuller sold the stolen horses for $1250 to an abattoir at Caboolture.
CCTV footage nabbed another person unloading four horses off the back of a truck, as well as a vendor registration document found by police.
Fuller had listed himself as the owner of the four horses. Fuller pleaded guilty to four counts of stealing animals that is stock and one count of fraud.
Ms Sturgess said stealing horses and committing fraud were “serious offences”.
Fuller was fined $1250 and no convictions were recorded.
Drug-fuelled fraudster slapped with massive restitution order
A Stanthorpe man’s drug-fuelled fraud spree has been revealed after his offending caught up with him.
Ashley Robert Quirk faced Stanthorpe Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud, dating from 2022.
The court was told the 26-year-old farmhand was “battling an addiction” at the time of offending, and used the drug meth “sporadically”.
Defence lawyer Joe McConnell told the court Quirk’s offending occurred within the “height of his drug addiction” and the crimes were committed in order to pay off his drug debt.
On July 9, 2022, in Brisbane, Quirk advertised a 2011 Jeep for sale for $7000, and sold it, however after the buyer tried to transfer the registration of the vehicle into his name he discovered the vehicle had been stolen.
The court was told on September 18 2022, another person was selling power tools on Facebook, and Quirk expressed interest in buying.
Quirk met the seller and arranged to meet them and gave the seller a cheque for $3400 in exchange for the tools, however the court was told Quirk did not honour the cheque and deleted the Facebook post after the seller tried to contact him.
Ms Sturgess labelled Quirk’s offending as “very significant, high-level fraud” and that his actions were a “serious offence of dishonesty”.
“No doubt your offending was caused by drugs, it’s pretty obvious drug use is behind this,” she told Quirk.
“It’s not fair for you to be spreading misery far and wide because you have a problem you’re not addressing,” Ms Sturgess said.
Quirk was sentenced to two years probation, and ordered to pay restitution to the two victims a combined cost of $10,400 over a period of six months. No conviction was recorded.
Bloke’s 50 year sporadic stealing spree revealed
A groundskeeper’s compulsive spree of stealing small items landed him in court.
Peter James Staib pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing after the 68-year-old went on a three day beverage stealing spree, taking a 600ml drink out from Big W each day over the course of November 9-11.
The total cost of the items was $10.95.
Defence lawyer Sarah Campbell described the actions as “out of character” during Staib’s appearance on December 12, 2022.
Ms Sturgess revealed Staib had a “sporadic offending history over decades” that dated back to 1975.
The charges, sometimes with decades between them, ranged from break and enter offences, stealing and even fraud.
“You simply cannot steal,” Ms Sturgess told him bluntly.
“You need to control yourself.”
Staib was ordered to pay a $400 fine and repay the cost of the stolen goods. No convictions were recorded.
Police remove knife from teen’s pocket at busy shopping centre
When a young man fronted court for carrying a knife at a busy shopping centre he asked police to return the ‘sentimental’ five-inch blade.
Queensland Rugby League player charged with rape, sexual assault
A QRL player who returned to the state after a stint in NSW was charged with serious sexual offences less than two months after signing for his hometown club.