REVEALED: The dumb things these 16 parents did to land in court
They’ve been labelled “dumbasses”, “fools” and “bullies” and have been responsible for everything from Maccas punch-ups to Domino’s assaults and even using a five-year-old to steal clothes.
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They aren’t your typical mums and dads at the school gate, instead, this mob have been before the courts for an array of gobsmacking acts including flashing their breasts, hiding from police up trees, assaulting Domino’s staff over pizza toppings, driving around with loaded home-made guns and using little children to get away with shoplifting.
Clinton Luke Lorenzo Fiteni
A father of five couldn’t keep himself from pilfering from businesses
The dad to five was given a “last chance” in January to stay out of jail due to his admirable performance on probation, after copping a raft of stealing charges.
Appearing at the Cleveland Magistrates Court, Clinton Luke Lorenzo Fiteni, 37, pleaded guilty to five stealing charges, multiple fare evasion charges, one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass and or cause offence, numerous drug charges and a charge of trespass.
The court heard Fiteni, who defence solicitor Bruce Johnstone said was diagnosed with schizophrenia and a delusional disorder, stole from numerous Redland City businesses over a period of months.
Described as “unsophisticated and petty thefts” the Wellington Point man variously stole from Coles Capalaba, First Choice Liquor Market Capalaba and FoodWorks Alexandra Hills.
Of particular concern to Magistrate Barry Barrett was a phone call Fiteni made supposedly to a person unknown to the defendant, during which he demanded money.
He given a head sentence of six months’ prison wholly suspended over 18 months and placed on 12 months’ probation.
Floyd Samson Henare Thomason
Fleeing onto train tracks, hiding up a tree... this dad just couldn’t help but leg it at the sight of police
Ten years on the straight and narrow came to a devastating end for a Brisbane father when a relapse into drug addiction saw him sentenced to prison at the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court in December.
Floyd Samson Henare Thomason, 30, pleaded guilty to 17 charges, including trespass, evading police and obstructing police, which occurred between October 14, 2019 and September 26, 2020.
Defence lawyer Shaun Kolo told the court Thomason had a checkered past but had ceased offending for nearly a decade in order to be a role model for his four children, aged between 11 and one year old.
However he fled police in bizarre ways on three occasions last year.
The offences included appearing to pull into a Mango Hill Puma service station to stop for police, but then looking at one of the officers, saying, “I’m sorry”, and driving off.
He also fled police after driving a truck “erratically” on Mary St in Caboolture.
This time when they tried to pull him over he accelerated, “speeding up dramatically” in an attempt to evade arrest.
Once he made it to a dead-end street, he jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran into bushland. He was later found hiding in a tree.
He also ran for it at Fortitude Valley train station, when railway squad officers detained him for a search.
Thomason provided a false name then fled from police, running onto the railway lines and dropping his backpack in the process.
The backpack contained several used, uncapped syringes.
He was given a head sentence of four months imprisonment for each evasion offence, each to be served concurrently.
Bruce James Alford
The father labelled a “dumbass” in court
A magistrate has labelled a father-of-one, who was caught drink driving for the fifth time, a “dumbass” after appearing in a Brisbane court.
Former Wynnum resident Bruce James Alford, 40, appeared in the Wynnum Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of liquor.
The court heard police intercepted Alford, who now lives on the Gold Coast, at 10.15pm on November 12 after seeing him speed on Wynnum Rd on the way home from the Wynnum Tavern in his ute.
Alford was then pulled over on Randall Rd at Wynnum West, where the defendant told police he had six, 3.5 per cent medium strength beers at the tavern before driving.
He clocked a blood-alcohol reading of .166, more than three times the legal limit, at the Wynnum Police Station.
He was sentenced to six months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 18 months, and was disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Geoffrey Griffiths
‘You’re a fool’: Brisbane father’s road rage attack slammed in court
No amount of bad driving or rude hand gestures was enough to justify punching a motorist in the chest, Pine Rivers Magistrate Trevor Morgan told a road rage offending dad.
Geoffrey Griffiths, 47, pleaded guilty to a single charge of common assault following a road rage attack at Griffin on September 11.
The court heard that Griffiths, a former truck driver and father of three, was driving on Anzac Ave in Kallangur at around 3.30pm when a Ford Falcon cut across him, driving across three lanes to turn at Bray Park Rd.
According to the police prosecutor, Griffiths pursued the car and pulled up alongside it to yell at the driver through his open window.
But it didn’t stop there.
When the victim’s car pulled into the 7-Eleven at Griffin, Griffiths followed, stopping directly in front of it.
Griffiths got out of the car, walked over to the drivers side with his fists clenched, and there was a heated exchange of words.
The court heard Griffiths punched the driver on the chest through the open window, then fled the scene.
“If you think this was the fault of anybody else, you’re a fool,” Mr Morgan said to Griffiths.
Griffiths was fined $500 and no conviction was recorded.
Adam Rua Simon
Angry dad has violent reaction to Domino’s Pizza topping
A Brisbane father-of-five and “bully by nature” was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines and compensation after he violently assaulted the franchise owner of Domino’s Pizza at Petrie, slamming him into the cold room door and striking him in the head.
Pine Rivers Magistrates Court heard Adam Rua Simon, 37, had often complained about how the Domino’s employees made his pizza, leading to several “previous incidents” at the north Brisbane store.
The tension boiled over on November 27 when Simon made a phone order then drunkenly entered the store for pick up.
The court heard that after Simon berated counter staff, he started pushing the business owner as the victim retreated into the back of the store.
According to the police prosecutor, the victim asked Simon to stop and told him he could “work something out” and “have the pizza for free”.
“I don’t want your pizzas,” Simon said, the court heard.
Simon struck the owner in the head with his elbow, grabbed his shirt and, while yelling at him, threw him against the cold room door.
“Take what you want and leave,” the owner said to him, according to the police prosecutor.
The entire interaction was caught on CCTV footage and later supplied to police.
He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, common assault and public nuisance.
Mr Morgan ordered Simon to pay a $2000 fine and $1000 of compensation to the victim.
The court heard that despite the violent kerfuffle, Simon returned at 7.30pm on December 16 to order another two pizzas.
The court heard counter staff refused Simon service and asked him to leave.
Ned Juhani Murdock Ikonen
Dad steals $14K from private school to fund ice habit
A 25-year-old father was locked up after breaking into a number of properties around the Moreton Bay region and stealing more than $14,000 worth of goods.
Ned Juhani Murdock Ikonen appeared in Redcliffe Magistrates Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to five break and enter charges, two counts of stealing, four breaches of bail and a failure to appear.
The court heard the Margate man broke into five properties between February and June.
The first was an external building at a home at Plume St Redcliffe on February 21.
Early in the morning on February 22 he climbed through an open window of a disability employment service office at Oxley Ave, Margate and helped himself to a drink.
He then placed a wheelie bin under the window and filled it with office equipment -which he sold for drugs.
On May 2 he broke into an office at The Lakes College through a window and stole an iPad, iPod, headphones and a laptop which had an expensive program installed on it. All up the stolen goods cost $14,183.
A number of other stolen goods including tools and a bicycle, also stolen from a North Lakes school, were found in a hotel room being rented by Ikonen in June.
He told police he sold or traded the items for ice.
He was given a head sentence of 12 months for break and enter at Plume St, 12 months for the break and enter into the shed, 15 months for breaking into the office, 12 months break and enter into the Retirement Village and 15 months for the offence at The Lakes College.
Blade Smith
Young Moreton Bay dad jailed after a night-time robbery with a child accomplice
A young Moreton Bay father got his first taste of life behind bars after he was jailed for his role in a robbery.
Morayfield man Blade Nateous Smith, 25, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Thursday to one count of robbery in company with another.
The court heard the robbery occurred in the late evening of April 21 or early morning of April 22, 2020 at an address in Caboolture.
Smith and a juvenile offender who has already been sentenced for their role in the robbery confronted the victim at his residence, before hanging around outside when they “didn’t get what they asked for”.
When the victim eventually emerged from his house, Smith held him by the arms while the juvenile offender punched him multiple times.
The juvenile offender then stole the victim’s car, while Smith left in his own vehicle.
The court heard Smith, the father of a young child, had a history of property and nuisance-type offending and was on several suspended sentences when the robbery was committed.
Smith was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended after serving eight months.
Trent Peter Murray Evans
Dad jailed after police found a bizarre home-made gun and a haul of drugs in his car
A 29-year-old Mango Hill man was jailed after police found a strange home-made gun and a quantity of drugs in his car.
Trent Peter Murray Evans pleaded guilty to five charges in Redcliffe Magistrates Court including carrying a loaded firearm in public, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing oxycodone, failing to dispose of a syringe and possessing drug utensils.
The court heard that on February 1, police patrolling Rothwell spotted a car parked at an odd angle on Finnegan St about 10.15am.
Police spoke to Evans who was standing next to the car and told police it had broken down and he was waiting on RACQ to arrive.
Police noticed Evans was nervous and evading questions. When police asked Evans if he had anything he shouldn’t have in the car he told them there was a loaded gun in the sports bag in the back seat.
The court heard Evans had just collected the bag from his ex-partners home, where his eight-year-old child often stayed.
Police prosecutor Mike Ball told the court the firearm was a home made handgun loaded with a 12 gauge shotgun bullet, ready and capable of being fired.
Police also found cannabis, 22 oxycodone tablets, three syringes and other drug utensils.
Evans was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.
Chrysty Lyn Wearn
Boob-flashing mum sobs and proclaims “it’s not fair” when sent to jail
A druggie mum who flashed her breasts in a court room cried as she was jailed by a Redcliffe magistrate.
Chrysty Lyn Wearn was removed from Redcliffe Court and sentenced to 12 months jail after pleading guilty to four offences.
Wearn, 44, of Redcliffe, was charged with receiving tainted property, failing to dispose of a syringe, failure to appear and public nuisance.
Among the offences was a fiasco at Redcliffe Magistrates Court on June 9, 2020 which saw her up-end her bag and tip its belongings on the floor, lift up her top and bra and expose herself to the people at the court while yelling obscenities.
She was arrested and charged with public nuisance.
Magistrate Mark Bucknall said the mother-of-five had a lengthy criminal history that included previous charges for assault, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, receiving tainted property, drug offences and failing to appear.
While Magistrate Bucknall was delivering the sentence Wearn started to cry, stating “It’s not fair”.
Despite being warned to be quiet she continued to make outbursts and was removed from the courtroom and taken to the watch house.
She was sentenced to two months’ jail for the failing to appear and 10 months’ jail for receiving tainted property, a total of 12 months in jail.
Wearn was convicted but not further punished in relation to the other two offences.
Kelly Lee Kemp
The mum-of-six in a violent Maccas punch-up
A mother of six was caught in a McDonald’s showdown when she rammed a car parked across the drive-through, a court has heard.
Kallangur mum Kelly Lee Kemp, 28, was parked in a waiting bay at the drive through of McDonald’s Caboolture when a fight escalated.
Caboolture Magistrates Court heard another woman allegedly approached the car Kemp was sitting in, triggering an argument.
However it soon escalated to a fight, with the pair allegedly hitting and punching each other.
She pleaded guilty to affray and driving without due care and attention and was fined $1000.
Chontae Alice Herr
Jimboomba drug mum jailed after pleading to 40 offences
A young Logan mum who grew up in a “normal, disciplined” household left school 11 weeks before graduating Year 12 and commenced a long slide into daily methamphetamine use, a court has heard.
Jimboomba woman Chontae Alice Herr, 20, pleaded guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court to 40 offences, all committed in an eight-month period from November 9, 2019 to June 18 last year, starting just four days after she was placed on probation for drug possession.
Herr’s offences included two counts of possessing drugs, receiving tainted property, three counts of evading police, three counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, eight counts of fraud, 11 counts of breaching bail conditions, drug driving, unlicensed driving, stealing and three counts of driving with switched registration plates, among other offences.
Magistrate Clare Kelly told Herr she was “basically out of control” during the period of offending, which only stopped on June 18, when she was arrested.
Ms Kelly sentenced Herr — who had spent 154 days in pre-sentence custody — to nine months’ jail with immediate parole, given the time she has already spent in custody.
She was also fined $350 and disqualified from driving for more than four years.
Kayla Maree Tavella
COVID-cougher caught in public toilet with a man
A drunken Brisbane mother used the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to assault a security officer who tried to kick her out of a pub in Brisbane’s north, the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court heard.
The security officer confronted Kayla Maree Tavella, a 22-year-old mother and hairdressing apprentice, for entering the disabled toilets with another man at the Homestead Tavern in Boondall on July 11.
Police told the court Tavella refused to leave the pub and coughed in the security guard’s face, telling him she had tested positive for COVID-19.
Tavella pleaded guilty to the common assault charge, in addition to four charges of stealing at the Woolworths Burpengary on May 25.
The court heard Tavella stuffed groceries in her pram and was later intercepted by police with over $500 worth of stolen goods.
She later returned the groceries.
In a letter of apology to the court, Tavella said she was forced to steal because she was struggling with her Centrelink payments.
Tavella, who Magistrate Melanie Ho noted had seven pages of criminal history, is already serving an 18 month suspended sentence for violent offences which predated the matters heard at Pine Rivers Magistrates Court that day.
As such, Tavella was convicted and not further punished.
Vicky Asienjo
Logan mum squirts breast milk on cell door in front of police
A refugee bit a policeman’s finger and sprayed her own breast milk on a Logan police station cell door because she was afraid for her children, her barrister told a court.
Vicky Asienjo, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of serious assault on police officers after she was arrested at Slacks Creek on July 13.
Prosecutor Sam Bishop said police attended a disturbance at Asienjo’s unit and as a senior constable was calling for assistance Asienjo leaned over and bit his finger, leaving bite marks and bruising.
After she was taken to a cell at Logan Central police station, the drunk mother of six exposed one of her breasts and sprayed milk on the cell door, he said.
“This case calls for general deterrence and community denunciation,’’ Mr Bishop said.
“It’s simply unacceptable and should not be tolerated.’’
But Asienjo’s barrister, Debra Wardle, told Beenleigh District Court that her client had witnessed atrocities during the long civil war in her Sudanese homeland and as a consequence was very protective of her six children.
Mr Dearden sentenced Asienjo to nine months’ prison, fully suspended for 18 months.
Nicole Anne Hayward
Mum used her five-year-old son as part of a ruse to shoplift more than $400 worth of goods
A Logan woman used her five-year-old son to steal more than $430 worth of goods from a shopping centre store in a scheme described as “concerning” by a magistrate.
Woodridge woman Nicole Anne Hayward, 28, aroused the suspicion of shoppers and employees at Best and Less at Logan Hyperdome on November 6, 2018, when she was seen shovelling large amounts of clothing into her trolley, not bothering to check anything for sizing, a court heard.
Once she had filled the trolley, she got her five-year-old boy to wheel it out of the store while she selected an item of little worth and paid for it at the counter.
Police from the Logan Hyperdome beat were dispatched and Hayward was questioned about the contents of her trolley in the busy shopping centre aisle.
She became agitated and verbally abusive, according to police prosecutor Sen Constable Danielle Hill, who said Hayward’s behaviour caused many passing shoppers, including very young children and the elderly, to come to a standstill.
Hayward was handcuffed and taken to the police beat, where it was discovered she had stolen $453.75 from the store. All items were returned.
Hayward was placed on a 12-month probation order. Convictions were recorded.
Mickala Yvonne Edwards
‘Bizzare’ $20k find in Redcliffe mum’s haul
Mickala Yvonne Edwards, 26, pleaded guilty to two charges of receiving tainted property, fraud and unlawful possession of suspected stolen property in Redcliffe Magistrates Court.
Police Prosecutor Mike Ball told the court the property was uncovered during a search of Ms Edwards home on May 27 last year.
During the search police found a red golf bag, black and white bike, an electrical device and a paving machine valued at $20,000.
It was stolen from a locked vehicle at Redcliffe Golf Course on May 20.
Edwards’ lawyer, Mr Crawford, told the court her ex-partner, who had previously been convicted of break and enters and is in custody, had bought the property to her house.
She said the paving machine was in a storage container she had never been inside.
Magistrate Byrne said Edwards would have to be “deaf, dumb and blind to now know what was going on around her”.
The Magistrate said it was “bizarre” the defendant, who had no previous criminal history, had jumped straight to the “A-grade team”.
“She has entered with a bang, most people start with possession of a bag of pot or a bike or something, not a $20,000 machine plus these other things,” Magistrate Byrne said.
Edwards was sentenced to six months, suspended for 12 months, in relation to the receiving property suspected to be stolen charge.
She was convicted and not further punished in relation to the other three charges.
A conviction was recorded for the receiving charge but not the other three offences.
Vanessa Grace Butler
Mum facing jail had to leave court when told there were no childminding services in the building
A Logan mum tried to pass off a small glass vial of GHB, also known as liquid fantasy, as perfume when police performed a search warrant on her home, a court has heard.
Tanah Merah woman Vanessa Grace Butler, 36, was charged with four offences following the May 21 search warrant of her home.
They included two counts of possessing a dangerous drug and one count each of possessing a drug utensil and contravening an order to access information stored electronically.
She pleaded guilty to all four charges.
The plea began in bizarre fashion, delayed due to Butler needing to find someone to mind her young toddler, whom she brought to court with her.
“I don’t think there’s many childminding services in Beenleigh Courthouse,” Magistrate Michael O’Driscoll observed tongue-in-cheek.
The court heard the search warrant occurred about 6.45am on the morning in question.
Police located a glass ice pipe in Butler’s bathroom, which she confessed to using the night prior to smoke ice; a small clip-seal bag containing less than a gram of ice on top of her bedroom table; and the 10mL vial of fantasy on a bedroom shelf.
Butler was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment with immediate court-ordered parole.
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