Fate sealed for Coffs Harbour kidnapper Dean Hurst as role and troubled life exposed

The final chapter in a gripping kidnap case reveals the role and troubled past of a “street-level” meth dealer in a bloody crime that shocked a regional town on the Mid-North Coast.

Dean Hurst, 48, has been sentenced for his lesser role in a brutal Coffs Harbour kidnapping.

The final chapter in a gripping kidnap case reveals the role and the troubled past of a “street-level” meth dealer in a bloody crime that shocked a regional town on the Mid-North Coast.

Coffs Harbour man Dean Hurst, 48, has been sentenced to five and a half years behind bars for his role in kidnapping and detaining of a man who was beaten senseless in a child’s inflatable pool before he suffered a degloving injury and was threatened with a “hotshot” death and bush burial by a co-accused.

Coffs Harbour District Court heard last week that Hurst had a lesser role in the brutal crime than his co-accused Steven John Adams, 48 – who received a eight and a half year jail sentence.

Dean Hurst is the last man sentenced over the kidnapping and wounding of a 48-year-old victim in a suburban Coffs Harbour neighbourhood.

The court heard it was Adams who had “beef” with the 48-year-old victim who went to the Azalea Ave property retrieve Makita power tools before being locked inside the backyard shed and bashed.

The court heard Hurst’s drug dealing had been the subject of a police phone tap at the time on December 30, 2022, allowing detectives to overhear threats to give the victim a “hot shot and bury his body in the bush”.

The sentencing of Dean Hurst at Coffs Harbour District Court on Friday May 23 concludes a dark chapter of a suburban kidnapping.

Police then raided the shed, stopping the assault, and discovered a slingshot in the shed in an internal wall belonging to Hurst.

The 48-year-old male victim, who now lives in witness protection and is unable to work or see his children, suffered lacerations to his head, chin, shoulders and soft tissue damage – along with a degloving injury to his finger which was caused by an angle grinder.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Senior Counsel David Morters argued while Hurst did not inflict any of the injuries on the victim, he was responsible for gathering those that did in the shed at his home.

The property at Azalea Ave, Coffs Harbour, the location of the kidnapping and assault on December 30 2022.

Defence solicitor Mr McKenzie argued Hurst did not plan the kidnapping and remained at the back of the shed with his partner Jessica Louise Gibson and her dog ‘Bonkers’.

Judge Michael McHugh in sentencing described the drug dealing as “street-level” and revealed to the court the tragic details of Hurst’s life.

Hurst was seen to be drying his eyes and clasping his hands in the dock during proceedings – looking intermittently at the judge and Ms Gibson who supported him in court.

Jessica Gibson and Dean Hurst both faced charges in the kidnapping in 2023 at Azalea Ave in Coffs Harbour.

Hurst’s aggregate sentence included drug supply charges separate to the kidnapping as a result of a vehicle stop by police on October 3, 2022.

Mr McHugh sentenced him on Friday to a non-parole period of three years and eight months and a total aggregate sentence of five years and six months for possessing a prohibited drug, two charges of taking part in supplying a prohibited drug and six charges of supplying a prohibited drug, kidnap in company with intent to commit a serious indictable offence – occasioning actual bodily harm – and using a prohibited weapon contrary to a prohibition order.

Jessica Louise Gibson sought court costs after a jury exonerated her but was unsuccessful.

Taking into account his time already spent on remand since his arrest on February 28, 2023, Hurst will be eligible for parole on October 27, 2026.

A jury trial on July 26, 2024 against all four co-accused — Hurst, Adams, Sheen and Gibson, found only Hurst and Adams guilty of kidnapping in company.

Rikki Sheen, 40, was found guilty of aggravated detainment with intent to intimidate and Jessica Gibson, 34, was acquitted of kidnap in company.

However she was later declined her application for court costs.

All four co-accused had pleaded not guilty.

Sam Flecknoe, 24, had earlier been found guilty of kidnapping in company with intent to commit serious indictable offence – occasioning actual bodily harm – and was sentenced to five years and three months after a guilty plea was entered.