Bradley Booth: Caboolture man jailed for Scarborough shooting

A Moreton Bay criminal shot a young man he accused of being a police informant, bashed a service station attendant, and participated in a wild prison riot, a court has heard.

A young ice-addicted criminal from north of Brisbane who was consuming up to 2g of the drug a day, has been sentenced for a wild crime spree that saw him shoot a man he accused of being a police informant, bashing a female service station attendant and participate in a wild prison riot while naked.

Caboolture South man Bradley Jason Booth, 24, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to 50 offences.

They included, most seriously, unlawful wounding, assault occasioning bodily harm, rioting, and two charges of dangerous driving of a motor vehicle with two previous convictions.

They also included 13 charges of stealing and multiple charges of possessing dangerous drugs, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, receiving tainted property, driving unlicensed, dangerous conduct with a weapon and possessing ammunition.

The court the wild spree occurred between June 19, 2017, and June 8 this year when he participated in a riot at Maryborough Correctional Centre, with the majority of the offending occurring between January and April this year.

Caboolture South man Bradley Jason Booth, 24. Picture: Facebook

The key dates of his offending were on March 5 and April 22 this year.

On the earlier date, at a service station at Caboolture, Booth attempted to fuel up his motorcycle and drive off without paying.

The female service station attendant attempted to remove Booth’s keys from the vehicle, to which he responded by aiming three punches in her direction, which did not connect.

However, he pushed her forcefully with both hands, sending her flying onto the ground and fracturing her hip, the court heard.

Next month, on April 22, Booth attended the Scarborough residence of a woman known to him, who was in company with a man.

Booth accused the man of being a “boneyarder”, aka a prisoner under police protection, and retrieved a pistol which he used to shoot the man in the back of his right leg as he attempted to flee.

Booth was arrested two days later following a wild police chase at Deagon, wherein he drove at speeds of up to 100km/h on the wrong side of the highway with shredded tyres, forcing other motorists to take evasive action.

The court heard Booth had only recently been released on parole when he commenced his wild spree.

However, locking Booth up did nothing to stop his offending ways, the court heard.

On June 8 this year, at Maryborough prison, Booth participated in a prison riot which saw him strip naked, smash glass windows with a metal bar, and urinate near an officer’s station.

Defence counsel Patrick Wilson told the court his client’s offending was driven by his “very serious” methamphetamine addiction, which saw him consume up to 2g a day.

He said Booth had a prejudicial upbringing and has spent most of his adult life in custody.

“He is a man who hasn’t been given a lot of opportunities in life,” Mr Wilson said.

He submitted his client was finally hopefully of turning his life around.

Judge Catherine Muir sentenced Booth to seven years’ imprisonment and made him eligible for parole slightly earlier than the standard one-third mark, in July next year.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years.