SIEGE: Man convicted after threatening to set shack alight
Police enlist Wicked van to arrest him just south of Bowen after claiming he would set fire to gas cylinders.
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A MAN threatened to set gas cylinders and petrol alight when police tried to remove him from his former property outside Bowen during a siege in April.
Today, Brett George Fallon, 60, pleaded guilty in Bowen Magistrates Court to charges of obstructing police and unlawfully remaining in a dwelling.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Emma Myors told the court Fallon used to live in a "shack” on the property at the old Miowera Saleyards, but it had been repossessed by Whitsunday Regional Council because he had not paid rates for a long time.
The court was told on April 4, the property about 12km south of Bowen on the Bruce Highway, was sold by council to the new owner.
On April 9, police served a notice on Fallon to leave the property, Sgt Myors said.
However, when he had not left by April 17, police went to the property to arrest him and remove him from the shack.
It was then that Fallon threatened to ignite gas cylinders and petrol inside the house, burning it and himself, Sgt Myors said.
The situation was declared a siege and police negotiators were called in.
Police tactically removed themselves as Fallon had previously poured petrol on himself and walked into a fire in 2013, Sgt Myors said.
On April 29, plain clothed police went to the property in a Wicked van, and when Fallon came out to speak to them thinking they were backpackers, he was arrested without incident, Sgt Myors said.
The court heard those arresting police saw gas cylinders and petrol inside the building.
Fallon represented himself in court, sacking his solicitor Cleo Rewald while at the bar table near the start of his appearance, saying he would rather tell his story.
He told Magistrate Peter Smid he had owned the property for many years and that the 2013 incident came after a protracted dispute with a bank over it.
After that he formed a company with family members and repurchased the property and converted the saleyards office and cafeteria into a place to live, Fallon said.
He told the court he obstructed police when they came to arrest him based on what he believed was a reasonable fear that police thought he was armed.
Fallon said he had found two firearms in a tank on the property years ago and tried to hand them in to police but they had not accepted them.
"In this day and age where police use force, it is when people are in possession of a weapon,” he said.
He also said he was fearful of police after a case in the Planning and Environment Court in Brisbane, during which he claimed he had been visited by police on "no less than 30 occasions”.
He claimed police had been "over zealous” at this time.
Mr Smid said he was willing to accept that Fallon thought he was hard done by.
"But I don't think those fears are reasonable,” he said.
"I think frankly you are the maker of your own trouble.”
Fallon was placed on 12 months probation, something Mr Smid said was a "generous order”.
The probation conditions will include that he undergo psychological assessment and treatment.
"I want to see you get help,” Mr Smid told Fallon.
"You must resume a life that will provide you with peace and quiet.”
* If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
Originally published as SIEGE: Man convicted after threatening to set shack alight