Pine Rivers business owner used power tools to break into council building

NAMED: The court heard the man started his five-month crime spree across Brisbane’s north due to lockdown ‘boredom’.

A Brisbane business owner has been sentenced to prison after lockdown boredom got the better of him, prompting him to steal several cars and break into Moreton Regional Council property, the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court heard today.

George Thomas Frame went on a five-month crime spree through Brisbane’s north, beginning with a stolen rental car during Stage 2 of Queensland’s Road to Recovery, on June 24.

Frame, a plasterer and father from Pine Rivers, was busted when the abandoned car was found on August 10, with a half-eaten box of takeaway noodles left in the centre console.

Forensic investigators used the DNA evidence to identify Frame and then link the stolen car to several incidents of stolen fuel.

The father broke into several cars before he attempted to take the council’s ute.

CCTV footage showed Frame driving the car to a number of service stations including Aussie World Garage at Palmview and the Caltex at Burpengary, where he stole $181.40 worth of petrol.

The most serious of his crimes, however, involved breaking into a Moreton Regional Council building at Dakabin.

The court heard Frame used an angle grinder to force open the locks and get through a six foot high metal fence.

Once inside, Frame located the keys to an Isuzu D-Max ute and drove off with it.

The ute was fitted with a GPS tracking device, but by the time police found the car, Frame was long gone.

He was identified with DNA evidence left behind in the car and CCTV footage outside of the council building.

The final unlawful use charge occurred on October 3 when Frame took a black Holden Commodore from a home in north Brisbane.

Police spotted the car parked in a paddock in Narangba on October 18, with Frame sleeping inside, slumped over the steering wheel.

Police tapped on the window to wake up Frame, but rather than surrendering he quickly turned on the ignition and sped away.

The car was located the following day.

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Frame pleaded guilty to eight charges, including one count of enter premises and commit an indictable offence, three counts of stealing and three counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Duty lawyer Brendan Bevan told the court his client, who owns his own subcontracting company, blamed the long, boring months of COVID-related lockdown for his return to criminality.

Magistrate Trevor Morgan sentenced Frame to a head sentence of 12 months imprisonment with an immediate parole release date.

He was fined $750 and a conviction was recorded.