2020 CROOKS: 10 Darling Downs crimes that left us wondering why
Some were cruel, some were deadly and some were just plan stupid. Here are ten criminals the stood above the rest in 2020.
Toowoomba
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1. Caught playing with fire
THREE Toowoomba teenagers were arrested on early December after they set fire the unused building owned by the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office and six vehicles in a used car lot.
The teens caused extensive damage to the school building and destroyed the six cars.
Three of the vehicles were ready for sale and their loss set the owner back about $45,000.
Each of the teens was given a warning under the Youth Justice Act.
2. Online sale was a load of bullion
IN EARLY June Nicholas Anthony Ward and Harrison James Ward set about making some quick money selling fake bullion on Gum Tree and Facebook.
Initially their scam worked.
The Toowoomba men convinced their victims to meet them in isolated places to exchange the fool’s gold.
Eventually, Harrison Ward upgraded to selling a fake iPhone.
But it didn’t take police long to catch up with them and the pair were ordered to pay more than $12,000 in restitution.
3 Twelve days on the lam ends with a long jail sentence
NOT only did Stephanie Ann Baker sell a bag of fake ice for $5000 but she also parked a disabled bay, drove while affected by drugs and with children in her car, and committed several fraudulent activates in Dalby.
But if this was not enough, Baker fled police custody after she was finally arrested on June 30, by climbing out a Dalby Hospital window.
She was on the run for two weeks before police arrested her a second time.
The result was a 43-month jail sentence, with a parole eligibility date at September 16, 2021.
4 Teen knifed in the back
DINERS on High St where shocked when a 16-year-old boy staggered through nearby cafes with a knife stuck in his back, in October.
It was allegedly put there by another 14-year-old boy after the brief disturbance.
Paramedics rushed the 16-year-old to the Toowoomba Hospital, in a serious but stable condition.
Police arrested the 14-year-old and his matter is still before the Toowoomba Children’s Court.
5. Dog act
A WILSONTON man was walking his dog early one October morning when a nearby resident mistakenly thought the dog had relieved itself on his fence.
The resident flew into a violent rage and battered the man, in broad daylight.
The assault left the man with a split cheek and a fear of walking his dog in that neighbourhood.
6. Parole date in 2039
SERIAL child rapist Leonard Colin Dern was sentenced to life in jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of rape with a previous conviction, one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and two counts of failing to comply with reporting conditions.
The it was a mandatory sentence, triggered by Dern’s shocking history of sexual violence perpetrated against children.
The abuse dated from 2019, and Dern was sentenced on June 4 of this year.
7. Gunman chased family
A MUM, dad and daughter had just loaded their groceries into their car when a man pulled up beside them at the Ridge Shopping Centre, brandishing a fake handgun on January 22.
He gestured for the father to hand over money, but he refused and fled with his family.
But the gunman did not stop.
He followed the family across the city and only gave up as they neared the Toowoomba Police Station.
The gunman, David Patrick Sjerp, 39, was sentenced to two and half years in jail.
8. Hard time for theft
A TOOWOOMBA man described by a police prosecutor as a “recidivist thief” and his co-offender stole two cement trucks from the Neil Mansell Concrete yards in the Harristown, between February 7-10.
The thieves drove the trucks to Clifton where one became bogged and members of public had helped free the vehicle without realising it had been stolen.
Police later recovered one of the vehicles, but the second was destroyed.
9. Border jumpers
IF ONE type of offence stood out in the Darling Downs crime reporting it would the travellers repeated attempts to evade detection when crossing the hard border closures that were designed to halt the spread of COVID-19.
The fines were big while the schemes were foolish,
There where the 16 carnival operators who were fined $64,000 for falsifying freight documents, a man hidden in a car boot at Wallangarra and a woman who hid in a truck at Goondiwindi.
These were just three the many cases, and each one received a $4003 fine.
10. Hotel escapee
On the subject of COVIDiots, who could forget Aaron Sydney Green, the 25-year-old man who escaped from his mandatory hotel quarantine at the Athena Motel Apartments in August.
He was on the run for more than three days, prompting a massive police search.
In the end it was his mum that convinced Green to hand himself in.
He fronted the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on August 13, where police prosecutor Rohan Brewster-Webb said Green told police he had an argument with his partner and he had run out of drugs so he left the motel to source some drugs and had stayed at a friend’s house for two days.
Originally published as 2020 CROOKS: 10 Darling Downs crimes that left us wondering why
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