Alleged ‘unstable’ Troy Matheson, 45, of Jimboomba denied bail on knife threat charges

A magistrate’s decision to give a truckie alleged to have made threats with a knife bail has backfired mere hours later. Now he is back in custody.

A truckie facing charges for alleged knife threats released on bail Wednesday after a tortured decision by a magistrate, is back in custody.

Appearing at Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Friday (June 3) Troy Matheson, 45, of Jimboomba was remanded to custody until his next scheduled court appearance on June 29.

On Friday he faced two fresh charges of breaching bail among other charges.

It came shortly after magistrate Pamela Dowse on Wednesday admitted she was taking “a Hell of a risk” by granting him bail so he may continue his employment.

On Wednesday the court heard Matheson faces a string of charges that include going armed to cause fear, wilful damage (domestic violence), breach of bail, common assault and using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause an offence.

Police will allege the truck driver went to the home of a man with a knife during a domestic dispute.

While standing at his door Matheson allegedly threatened to hurt the man before the alleged victim quickly closed the door after spotting the knife.

Police prosecutor Tim Wise said the alleged victim watched as Matheson allegedly stabbed the tyres of the man’s car.

Mr Wise strongly objected to bail release.

He noted the alleged offending occurred after Matheson had been sentenced to a suspended jail sentence for breaching bail, and came on the back of a 2011 assault offence.

“Not only could he not attend to bail … he doesn’t seem to be in the right mindset to deal with the complexities in his life,” Mr Wise said.

“Obviously the prosecution sympathises …(but) there is real risk to the community.”

Matheson’s defence solicitor submitted their client had served 53 days in pre-sentence custody and had never intended to follow through with his (alleged) threats.

Troy Matheson, 45, of Jimboomba had his bail denied. Picture: Facebook.

The defence said the defendant was an accomplished man who had worked as a transport worker for Linfox for 10 years and had been in significant distress.

In order that Matheson may keep working, his defence solicitor urged that he be released under a curfew.

However, granting him bail on Wednesday did not come easy for magistrate Pamela Dowse who noted a separate alleged victim had shown visceral fear at Matheson’s release.

“It is really very hard to give bail to people who are unstable because they go and set fires and do all sorts of terrible things,” Ms Dowse said.

“It is a really big worry.

“The thing is (the other alleged victim) is very fearful.

“(The person) says the only way for him to be stopped is to be in custody.

“(The person) is visibly shaken when talking with police.

“And (the person) might be the victim of horrific crime if the (alleged) behaviour of the defendant were to continue.

“You never know what they are going to do.”

A submission by the defence that their client had little interaction with the justice system until this year, provided little comfort to the bench.

“Hannah Clarke’s (perpetrator) didn’t have criminal history,” Ms Dowse said.

“This is a real problem.

“It is a Hell of a risk.

“It is really scary.

“How many people have been murdered around here lately?

“It is difficult to know which ones are going to be normal and which ones won’t be normal.”