Offshore chef Daniel James Parsons cooked up five batches of bizarre, sometimes violent crimes in 10 weeks

Over the course of just 10 weeks, an offshore chef with a drug habit and a “temper” problem has cooked up five batches of bizarre and sometimes violent crimes against at least a half a dozen people, including a disgusting act at a hotel pool.

Daniel James Parsons, 50, from Tully, was making “too much money” as an offshore cook, his lawyer said, turning to drugs and alcohol when a workplace injury left him unable to return to his job at sea.

An offshore chef with too much money, a drug habit and a “temper” problem, has cooked up a hectic series of crimes – some strange, some obscene and some violent – against strangers, a good Samaritan and people he knew.

Over two months he rammed a car, drunk drove into a power pole, and assaulted hotel cleaner, a court has heard.

Tully man Daniel James Parsons, 50, pleaded guilty in Cairns Magistrates Court to 15 charges, including aggravated dangerous driving, committing an indecent act in public, common assault and several counts of wilful damage, related to five separate incidents in the Far North between January and March this year.

Magistrate Terence Browne sentenced Parsons to 18 months’ imprisonment, disqualified him from driving for 18 months, and set his parole release date at September 9, 2025.

Police found Daniel James Parsons in possession of cannabis, LSD and an ice pipe.

Police prosecutor David Castor told the court Parsons’ first crime in the series was “planned and premeditated”.

He drove his van to the home of someone he believed had wronged him, rammed their white MG at least four times and caused more than $16,000 damage to the car and the garage.

Parsons was still in the car when the police arrived and he commented that he would “burn” the person, saying “that’s a promise”.

Just a few days later, police were called to the Benson Hotel in Cairns over reports a man was committing an indecent act by the pool, described too graphically in court to share here, while a family was swimming nearby.

Mr Castor said there was no evidence children at the pool witnessed the indecent act taking place and said the man was “literally found with his pants down”.

The indecent act Daniel James Parsons committed in public at a Cairns City hotel pool is too graphic to describe.

Crime three happened just 10 days after Parsons rammed the MG – while he was on bail – with Parsons drink driving on Isabella Road in Edmonton when he “collided with a pole, crossed onto the wrong side of the road, flipped the car”, then “told off” the ambulance and fire and rescue officers who came to free him.

He also refused to provide a breath specimen to police.

A month later, on February 10, Parsons was staying at the Queens Court Motel when he grabbed a cleaner by both arms and pulled her towards him after she asked him about cleaning the room, an incident Mr Browne said must have been “terrifying” for the woman.

Daniel James Parsons smashed the windscreen of the car of a “good Samaritan” who had picked him up hitchhiking, but was unable to take Parsons exactly where he wanted to go.

The final few episodes occurred in early March, the court was told, when Parsons smashed the windscreen of a car belonging to a good Samaritan who picked him up hitchhiking, but said he was unable to take Parsons exactly where he wanted to go, and later when police found him in possession of cannabis, LSD and an ice pipe.

Defence barrister James Sheridan said Parsons, an offshore chef for 30 years, working on local and international vessels, had been making as much as $200,000 a year but had not always used the money wisely.

“He simply had too much money and would consume significant amounts of alcohol and illicit drugs,” Mr Sheridan said.

“He simply had too much money and would consume significant amounts of alcohol and illicit drugs,” Parsons’ barrister James Sheridan told the court.

He told the court Parsons suffered a serious workplace injury in 2022, leading to physical and psychological problems that prevented him from working.

Mr Sheridan said Parsons’ drug and alcohol use, which he had previously confined to his time onshore, had snowballed since the injury, leaving Parsons largely penniless and homeless.

He said Parsons had expressed difficulty accepting that it could be a problem to consume a bottle of Jack Daniel’s within 12 hours.

Mr Sheridan described the circumstances as a “recipe for disaster” and said the injuries Parsons suffered would make any period of imprisonment harder to bear.

Magistrate Terence Browne sentenced Daniel James Parsons to 18 months’ imprisonment, with a parole release date in September this year.

Mr Browne said he was reducing the time Parsons would spend in prison because of his personal circumstances and his acceptance of responsibility for his actions.

He said real jail time was warranted because of the violent nature of some of Parsons’ offences, and his criminal history, which included a prior conviction for dangerous driving.

Originally published as Offshore chef Daniel James Parsons cooked up five batches of bizarre, sometimes violent crimes in 10 weeks