Woodridge teen Byron Norman Simpson, 18, sentenced for stealing cars, possessing ammo
A southeast Queensland teenager who went on a car-stealing spree and was found with ammo will only be jailed for eight days after a magistrate said he won’t get the support he needs behind bars.
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A LOGAN teenager who stole three cars and drove them, once dangerously towards a parked police unit, despite never having held a drivers licence will serve only eight days behind bars after a court today heard distressing details of his upbringing.
Woodridge teenager Byron Norman Simpson, 18, was yesterday handed a 12-month sentence with immediate parole having only served eight days after Magistrate Michael O’Driscoll determined it was more important for the young adult to receive mental health support than to languish behind bars.
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“And you won’t get that support inside,” he said.
Defence lawyer Katie Peisley told the court her client had a “horrific” childhood.
Simpson is the brother of slain toddler Baden Bond, a 22-month-old baby, who was left at a Eagleby boat ramp at dusk one evening in 2007 and never seen again.
Their father, Shane Arthur Simpson, 52, last year pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and their mother, Dina Colleen Bond, 46, guilty to being an accessory to manslaughter and was sentenced to three years’ jail, after police revived the cold case in 2017.
Ms Peisley told the court Simpson was five when his baby brother disappeared and has lived with that uncertainty since. His parents have been in and out of jail ever since.
Ms Peisley said Simpson was aged seven when his father first asked him to inject heroin into his arm for him.
Simpson today pleaded guilty to 13 offences, which included unlawful use of a motor vehicle (three times), dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, driving while disqualified by court order (three times), breaching bail (twice), and receiving a set of tainted car keys.
The vehicles were stolen between March 12 – June 24 this year.
On March 12, Simpson stole a vehicle from Hindmarsh St, Rochedale South and displayed incorrect licence plates. At Woodridge that same day, he received a set of car keys he ought have suspected were stolen.
At Loganlea on June 21, Simpson stole a vehicle, as he did again three days later at Logan Central, where he was also charged with dangerous driving on Leichhardt St.
On June 26 when he was arrested, police discovered a round of .22 calibre ammunition, leading to a charge of possessing explosives.
Mr O’Driscoll urged Simpson to seek urgent mental health support upon his release.