Bail denied for accused Toowoomba fire attack offender

A woman allegedly involved in a harrowing attack on a young dad who was doused in petrol and set on fire has pleaded with a judge to release her from custody amid severe prison overcrowding.

CCTV of the moment a man suffering from burns walked into the Stock Hotel in Harristown.

A woman allegedly involved in a harrowing attack on a young dad who was doused in petrol and set on fire has pleaded with a judge to release her from custody amid severe prison overcrowding.

Codie Leigh Bird, 31, applied for bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday, saying she was sharing a single occupancy cell with another prisoner, telling the court: “I feel like there’s no real chance of rehabilitation in this situation with the jail being so full”.

Bird was one of two women charged with committing acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm after 26-year-old father-of-four Jordan Moore was doused in petrol and set alight outside Toowoomba’s Stock Hotel in September.

The self-represented applicant told Justice Peter Callaghan she hoped to be released to attend an inpatient drug rehabilitation program and that she was willing to abide by any conditions imposed by the court.

But it was not enough to secure her release, with the court hearing evidence of her lengthy criminal history which included multiple convictions for breaches of court orders and repeat offending while on bail.

Jordan Moore sustained serious burns to his face, neck and arms during an incident in a Harristown hotel carpark.

“The difficulty is that securing an attendance at such a (rehabilitation) facility might address the drug related issues, the problems raised by the offending and the applicant’s criminal history go much further than that,” Justice Callaghan said.

“It is said she has committed 45 offences while on bail, has 11 convictions for failing to appear, six convictions for breaching bail conditions, committed four offences whilst on parole, 14 offences whilst subject to suspended sentences and nine offences whilst subject to probation.

“In all those circumstances the risks identified in the bail act remain unacceptable and the applicant has not shown cause why her continued detention in custody is not justified.”

The court heard Bird’s lengthy criminal history spanned 13 pages.

“Many of the offences on it do not appear to rise above the level of what I’ll call nuisance value,” Justice Callaghan said.

“But she has entered into a new league with the allegation that on the 13th of September last year she was involved in an offence that involved a victim being splashed with petrol and ignited.

“It is not alleged that the applicant herself did this but that she was a party to that action and remained in the presence of the offender and indeed drove them away after this event.”

Justice Callaghan said there was a “particularly sinister quality” to the alleged offending which placed Bird “in a new league of criminality”.

“It is particularly concerning that this is alleged to have occurred whilst the applicant was already on bail for other offences,” he said.

“She is therefore in a show cause situation because she is charged with an offence allegedly committed on bail and in which an explosive substance was used.”

The case is still progressing through the magistrates court.