Pushbike theft adds to Toowoomba man’s cycle of offending

The defence solicitor told the court his client had four pages of criminal history but his last stealing offence was in 2017.

The $1200 bike was stolen from a Toowoomba shopping centre car park.

STEALING a bicycle left at a Toowoomba shopping centre that has never been recovered has left a 43-year-old man with a significant hole in his pocket.

The bicycle's owner had ridden the $1200 bike to the shopping centre on April 14, last year, and had left it with his $40 helmet in the car park.

He returned a short time later to find the bike and helmet gone but the theft had been captured on the car park’s CCTV cameras, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

As a result, Stephen James Flanagan was spoken to by police and handed a notice to appear in court but he had failed to turn up, police prosecutor Natalie Bugden told the court.

He had been pulled up by police on July 31 for riding a bike without a helmet and was found to have a pipe and straw with drug residue on them in his backpack.

Again he was granted bail to appear in court but he did not show up, Sergeant Bugden said.

Police had pulled him up again on December 2 when he was seen riding a bike without a helmet, she said.

He told police he hadn’t turned up at court because his doctor had given him a certificate saying he had COVID like symptoms and that he should be in quarantine.

Flanagan, who had four pages of criminal history, was picked up by police about 2am Thursday and pleaded guilty to stealing the bike and failing to appear in court.

His solicitor Joe McConnell, of MacDonald Law, told the court his client’s last stealing offence was in 2017.

Magistrate Howard Osborne fined Flanagan $900 and ordered he pay $1240 restitution.

Originally published as Pushbike theft adds to Toowoomba man’s cycle of offending