Toowoomba’s weirdest cases of 2022: Bizarre matters heard before the city’s courts
From a woman wearing a lawyer’s stolen watch to court to a couple who gained international notoriety for having sex in a courtroom foyer, and plenty of drugs hidden in a variety of places, here are some of the more bizarre cases from Toowoomba courts this year.
Toowoomba
Don't miss out on the headlines from Toowoomba. Followed categories will be added to My News.
This year has resulted in Toowoomba gaining certain notoriety across the country, and even world, thanks to a handful of weird and unexpected crimes.
From sex in a public space to a mum groping her child’s teacher, some stories have been the talk of the town.
The Chronicle has compiled a handful of the wacky crimes that have passed through Toowoomba’s courts this year.
Young couple face magistrate for public sex in Toowoomba court foyer
A young couple who gained international notoriety while overcome with the “exuberance of youth” learnt the hard way that sex in a courtroom foyer was unacceptable behaviour when they were sentenced for their “outrageous behaviour”.
Shameka Julie Leeding, 19, and her partner Jake James Quinn, 20, were captured on CCTV on June 28, 2022 having sexual intercourse just 5m from others in a full Toowoomba Courthouse foyer.
The couple, who were easily identified on the footage, were interrupted three times before they were told to leave the building.
They later faced court and pleaded guilty to one charge each of indecent act in any place to which the public are permitted access.
They were each sentenced to 60 hours community service with no convictions recorded.
Car arsonist undone by co-offender’s simple mistake
A 23-year-old man almost committed the perfect crime, until his co-accused was arrested on an unrelated matter, and the group’s video footage outed him to police.
Joshua Paul Townsend pleaded guilty “at the 11th hour” to one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and one count of arson on the morning his Toowoomba District Court trial was meant to begin in October 2022.
On the night of October 23, 2020, a car was stolen from a Toowoomba property and later driven by three offenders; Townsend, Harrison Jon Gardner and Blair Edwin Taylor, to a Goombungee paddock and set alight, completely destroying the vehicle.
Townsend’s involvement was not discovered until Gardner, 21, was arrested on an unrelated matter and his phone seized, which uncovered evidence of Townsend at the scene.
Townsend was sentenced to two years imprisonment to be served concurrently for the charge of arson, with immediate parole given. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $5500, which was referred to SPER.
Drug driver found asleep at the wheel with engine running
A drug driver was found asleep at the wheel of his car, his seat belt on and the car’s engine running, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.
Police arrived to find Beljit Kumar in a confused state, with the 33-year-old shocked to find he had a drug pipe in his pocket and a small amount of cannabis.
When a roadside breath test proved negative for alcohol, Kumar was taken to the hospital for a drug test. Kumar later told police he had been smoking drugs up until about midnight the previous night, she said.
Further investigations found the vehicle was unregistered and uninsured, resulting in further charges.
Kumar pleaded guilty to all eight offences, and was fined $2370 and disqualified from driving for two years but ordered no conviction recorded.
Man punched at NRL Anzac Day game in viral video faces court
A man who was punched by NRL supporters at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium after yelling out during the minute’s silence at the Anzac Day match appeared before Toowoomba Magistrates Court.
Wade Ruben Hornery, from the Toowoomba region town of Pittsworth, had suffered “extra-curial” punishment as a result of his disrespectful actions during the Anzac Day ceremony prior to the Brisbane Broncos/Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs clash on April 22 when he was repeatedly punched to the head by another supporter, the court was told in May.
However, the 45-year-old accepted it was his own fault, his solicitor Alyshia Jacobsen told the court.
Hornery was evicted from the grounds and later abusive towards police, resulting in him being taken to the nearby watch-house.
While there, Hornery was found with small amounts of “green leafy material” suspected as being cannabis in the coin pocket of his pants and in a Berocca tube.
Hornery pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and property as having been used for a drug offence, and was placed on nine months probation.
Cop seriously assaulted while extracting drugs from man’s bum
A Toowoomba man who assaulted a police officer who was trying to remove a bag of drugs from his buttocks with a pair of tongs was jailed for two years.
Corey Rainer Maxwell had been trying to avoid police while driving a stolen car which was eventually stopped when police deployed tyre deflation devices on the street on the night of March 8, 2022.
Arrested and taken from the vehicle, police officers conducted a pat-down search of Maxwell during which they found a clip seal bag containing 4.581g of substance of which 3.384g was found to be pure methylamphetamine.
While searching the 31-year-old, a police officer noticed an object protruding from Maxwell’s buttocks and he was handcuffed and taken to the Toowoomba Police Station watch house to be searched in a more “private setting”.
However, when one of the officers approached with a set of tongs, Maxwell became agitated and struck out, hitting the officer in the face causing him pain and swelling and leaving a red mark.
Maxwell pleaded guilty to possessing meth above the 2g schedule and serious assault of a police officer on duty causing bodily harm.
Maxwell was sentenced to two years in jail, but given the 245 days time served in pre-sentence custody, he would be eligible for parole from December 8, 2022.
Public masturbator caught naked days after release from jail
Toowoomba’s serial public masturbator and flasher was out of jail just three days when he was caught running naked around a Blue Mountain Heights neighbourhood.
Christopher Neale Roberts was released from jail after pleading guilty to running naked through a number of residential yards in the Mort Estate on the afternoon of August 5.
However, on Monday night about 8.25pm a woman at home in her Blue Mountain Heights home was alerted by her security system of movement outside the house, the Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.
The woman checked her CCTV camera footage to see a naked man running about her yard and peering in through her windows, police prosecutor Bettina Trenear told the court.
Police called to the home checked the CCTV footage and immediately recognised Roberts from previous similar offending.
A search of the area failed to find the naked intruder but police found Roberts at a James Street hostel the following day and took him into custody.
Roberts pleaded guilty to trespassing and wilful exposure offences, and was sentenced to six months jail, but was eligible to apply for immediate parole.
Honest answer ends in hefty licence disqualification
When it comes to job interviews, honesty is usually the best policy, but for one Toowoomba man telling the truth about his licence to a potential employer saw him disqualified from driving for almost three years.
Jesse Jay Bays drove to a job interview at Toowoomba business Absolute Batteries about 11am on January 5 this year, during which he admitted he had lost his licence as a result of a demerit point suspension.
Bays was seen driving to and from the interview, however when asked by police he at first denied it before admitting to the act.
The Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told that on November 9, 2021, Bays was found to have driven to a property, while intoxicated and on a suspended licence, and later returning a reading of 0.144.
Bays pleaded guilty to two charges of driving without a licence (demerit points suspended) and mid-range drink driving. He was fined $1300 and disqualified from driving for two years and 11 months.
Man fined for climbing on CBD nightclub roof
An out-of-town reveller learnt the hard way that silly games come with expensive price tags after he was fined for climbing on the roof of the Tatts Hotel.
Police patrolling the Toowoomba Safe Night Precinct on the Saturday night were called to the disturbance on Margaret Street about 9.30pm, September 17.
They observed a Trangie man climb out of the hotel’s enclosed balcony area and onto an awning which he then scurried across.
Police were quick to detain the man and issued him with fines for unregulated high risk activity (climbing the building) and obstructing police.
Woman busted wearing lawyer’s stolen watch to court
After being the victim of a break and enter of his South Toowoomba home, a high profile Toowoomba lawyer was soon back in possession of some of the property stolen after a woman attended court, seeking his legal advice, wearing his $1700 watch.
Between 7am and 5.45pm on April 21, 2022, an unknown number of offenders forcibly entered the South Toowoomba home of MacDonald Law director Jag MacDonald, where a number of items were stolen including a distinctive $1700 watch.
About 10.30am on April 26, Mr MacDonald was at Toowoomba Courthouse acting as duty lawyer when Tina Kathleen Hazard, who was due to appear on drug and property offences, attended an interview to speak to him when he noticed she was wearing his watch, police prosecutor Senior Constable Chris Willson said.
In total Hazard, 35, pleaded guilty to 14 drug and property offences in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Friday, including entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence, receiving tainted property, possessing dangerous drugs and stealing.
Hazard was sentenced to 12 months in jail, however due to already spending 40 days in custody, she was eligible for immediate parole.
Man high on drugs tasered after ramming cop car with stolen vehicle
A late-night fast food run ended in a jail sentence for a Cambooya man after he rammed emergency service vehicles while drug-affected after he was found passed out behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle.
Staff of the Wilsonton McDonald’s restaurant called emergency services about 11.30pm on May 23, 2022 after they found Daniel Stephen Wright asleep behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle in the drive through lane.
The Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told that after being woken, an enraged Wright proceeded to drive forward into a police vehicle before reversing into an ambulance.
Wright was tasered and OC spray was used before the driver’s side window was smashed and he was dragged from the vehicle. A subsequent search uncovered 20mL of the drug GHB, as well as knuckledusters and stolen registration plates.
In total Wright pleaded guilty to 10 offences in September 2022, including dangerous operation of a vehicle while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, obstructing police, unlawful possession of suspected stolen property, unlawful possession of a weapon and possessing a dangerous drug.
Already on parole for a previous armed robbery, acting magistrate Rowan Silva sentenced Wright to two years in jail, and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Drink driving mum gropes her child’s teacher, crashes into fence
A woman who drunkenly groped her daughter’s teacher, before crashing her car into a fence, had formed the belief that text messages between the pair were more than a feeling, a court has been told.
Trina Renae Bailey faced Toowoomba Magistrates Court in July where she pleaded guilty to common assault and driving a motor vehicle over the middle alcohol limit.
The court was told that in the weeks leading up to June 2, 2022, the 26-year-old had attended the Toowoomba school to pick up her six-year-old daughter smelling of alcohol, and had inappropriately touched her daughter’s teacher despite her numerous requests for Bailey to stop.
Things came to a head when on June 2 when Bailey went to the victim’s classroom and hugged her, before running her hand down the victim’s backside and making a sexual remark to a nearby male teacher.
“I hope you’re having sex with that, if I had a dick I would be,” the court heard Bailey said.
Bailey was convicted and sentenced to 18 months probation, and a nine month disqualification.
More Coverage
Originally published as Toowoomba’s weirdest cases of 2022: Bizarre matters heard before the city’s courts
‘Time is nigh’: Questions over council CEO’s future amid $136m blowout
Council insiders are calling on Brian Pidgeon to make a call on his future within months, after the TRC chief executive took leave following an annual report featuring a $12m deficit.
Drunk ogre pelts 1yo son, chokes mother as other kids watch on
A brutish father mercilessly strangled his partner while she held their terrified young son, who he had just attacked, in her arms.