10 violent Northern NSW offenders named
From a man who bit a police officer’s ear to another who threw a punch because of the way his victim looked at him, some of the region’s most violent offenders can now be exposed.
Police & Courts
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A number of offenders in Northern NSW have faced serious penalties for acts of violence.
One man bit a police officer’s ear while another threw punches because he didn’t like the way his victim looked at him.
Here are 13 of the Northern Rivers’ violent offenders.
James Peter Millington
James Peter Millington, 42, pleaded not guilty in June to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and wounding causing reckless actual bodily harm.
But a judge-only trial in Lismore District Court found him guilty on both counts.
The court heard Millington bit off-duty police officer Terry Masters’ ear at the Richmond Hotel on Keen St in Lismore on December 13, 2019.
Millington was convicted on both counts on September 3 and sentenced to 17 months in jail, backdated to April 30, 2021, with a non-parole period of eight months.
Mitch Harrison
A lawn mowing business owner violently beat his good friend of three years with an iron bar while he was high on cocaine.
Mitch Harrison pleaded guilty in Tweed Heads Local Court in May to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The court heard the victim’s sister received a call from Harrison about 10am on December 7, 2020, who told her he had met the victim at the Oyster Farm in Tweed Heads, got out of the car, grabbed a steel bar and flogged the victim.
He said he only hit him with it from the neck down to his legs and ensured not to strike his head and made sure he got up and walked away.
Harrison was convicted and sentenced to a two year community correction order with 100 hours of community service.
Ayden Christopher Brown
Aydin Christopher Brown, 33, pleaded guilty in Lismore District Court in August to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of possessing prohibited drugs and one of possessing stolen property.
Judge Jeffrey McLennan outlined court facts which revealed on the day of the assault a friend of Brown’s had reached out asking for drugs.
The friend had been drinking with another friend who both took a taxi to Brown’s home.
Brown took issue with the way one of the men was staring at him and punched him two to three times until he was knocked unconscious.
Brown was sentenced 11 months and nine days in jail, backdated to September 19, 2020.
Bradley Presbury and Justine Anderson
Bradley Presbury, 23 and Justin Anderson, 26, were sentenced for assault occasioning death and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in June in Lismore District Court for an event resulting in the 2018 death of Iluka man Aaron Marks.
Presbury met with Marks along with along with co-accused Anderson and another friend on May 12, 2018, after a failed drug deal.
Presbury threw an “unprovoked” punch towards the Iluka man.
Believing Mr Marks was attacking Presbury, Anderson pushed Mr Marks and the intoxicated Mr Marks fell onto the concrete.
Within minutes, the back of his head started to bleed.
Mr Marks was found in the early hours of May 13 by a resident in a pool of his own blood and barely breathing.
The 38-year-old was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital but died three days later.
Presbury face an aggregated sentence of 501 days, backdated to February 9, 2020, as time spent in custody.
Judge McLennan convicted Anderson to a head sentence of three years, including time spent in custody from June 2, 2019.
Jamie Bloomfield
Jamie Bloomfield, 25, from Loganlea in Queensland, had been subject to an arrest warrant dating back to mid-2019 when police found him passed out in the Main Beach carpark shortly before 3am on Sunday, November 15, 2020.
Because of his heavily intoxicated state, two senior constables took Bloomfield to Byron Bay Police Station to sober up.
According to court documents, he was so affected by alcohol he could not give police his name.
While two other officers helped to walk him into the custody area at the police station, Bloomfield suddenly punched one of them in the face, police said in court documents.
He was sentenced in Byron Bay Local Court in November 2020 to 12 months in jail.
Steele Terrar Davies
A man who assaulted police, a security guard and another man when he was offered a free mask at a Northern Rivers shopping centre has pleaded guilty to a string of charges.
Steele Terrar Davies, 24, from Goonellabah, was arrested on April 1 this year after he caused a fracas at Lismore Central Shopping.
He was approached by a security guard who informed him of the rule and offered him a surgical mask.
In response, Davies produced a toy cap gun and began firing it at the security guard “while yelling and screaming”.
He then began punching the guard in the head and when a passer-by tried to intervene, Davies assaulted him as well.
He was sentenced in Byron Bay Local Court in July to two years in prison, backdated to take into account the time he has been held on remand.
His non-parole period will end on October 22.
Daniel Basinauro
Daniel Basinauro, 30, pleaded guilty to four offences in Lismore Local Court on July 28.
They included assault with the intent to rob, possessing ammunition without a permit, possessing a prohibited drug and a separate contravention of an apprehended violence order.
When a taxi ride was finished on November 9, 2020, the driver stated the fare, to which Basinauro said he would get out to give it to him.
Upon reaching the driver’s side, Basinauro ripped open the door and said “you f*****g idiot, you have to give me all your money or I’ll kill you”.
The driver protested he didn’t have any money and grabbed a bag containing AirPods and $250 worth of Lismore Taxis change.
Basinauro reached in and punched the driver in the head while trying to steal the bag.
Basinauro was sentenced to 18 months in jail with two months non-parole.
Jae Flevell
A man who choked his mother’s boyfriend during a house-moving dispute took self defence too far, a court has heard.
Jae Flevell, 30, pleaded guilty in Byron Bay Local Court in December, 2020, to intentionally choking a person without consent.
The court heard Flevell believed he had dealt with his responsibilities in relation to preparing for the move and felt things were going “smoothly”.
But an argument unfolded between him and his mother‘s boyfriend, Craig Yeates, who was visiting at the time.
A scuffle took place and Flevell choked Yeates with such force he went red and was struggling to breathe, according to an account the mother gave to police.
Flevell was sentenced to an 18 month community corrections order, 100 hours of community service work, and fined $500 for an apprehended violence order breach which was committed shortly after the order was imposed by police.
Brian William Mitchell
Brian William Mitchell pleaded guilty in Tweed Heads Local Court on June 18 to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Mitchell swung a club lock at the victim several times, striking him in the face, knocking him to the ground before the victim blacked out.
He woke up and Mitchell hit him in the head and upper body area as he lay on the ground.
Police arrived and saw Mitchell naked on top of the victim, who had blood on his face.
Mitchell was sentenced to a 15-month intensive corrections order with 100 hours of community service.
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