Cairns crime: Wayne Stuart Chevathen guilty to robbery while armed in company after taxi carjacking

A man who carjacked a taxi at knifepoint with two juveniles before going on a wild ride through the Atherton Tablelands faced Cairns District Court on nine charges arising from the fiasco.

A Cairns man who carjacked a taxi at knifepoint with two juveniles before going on a wild ride through the Atherton Tablelands faced Cairns District Court on nine charges arising from the fiasco last April.

Wayne Stuart Chevathen, 38, pleaded guilty to robbery while armed in company with violence, three charges of serious assault police while armed with weapon, common assault, two charges of wilful damage, dangerous operation of a vehicle and unlawful use of a vehicle.

Crown Prosecutor Jessica Eagle-Rowe said the trio hailed the cab at DFO in Westcourt and asked to be taken to a secluded spot on the esplanade at Machans Beach.

She played CCTV footage from the cab to the court which showed Chevathen pointing a pair of scissors at the terrified driver’s neck.

Wayne Stuart Chevathen was sentenced on nine offences after carjacking a taxi at Machans Beach on April 26, 2022. Picture: Facebook

The driver grabbed money, fled and called out to a witness, who called triple-0.

Chevathen, who was shirtless and wearing a mask, then jumped into the driver’s seat and one of the two girls, who had a balaclava around her neck, jumped in the front passenger seat.

She abused Chevathen for not getting the money and said “can you drive or what? You stupid C***”.

The court heard the CCTV camera was thrown into the ocean and Chevathen drove dangerously to Atherton via Smithfield.

Both girls, frightened by his driving, got out at Atherton and flagged down police.

Chevathen then drove down the Gillies Range to Gordonvale where an external camera showed him driving erratically through roadworks, with workers having to jump out of the way.

He drove on the wrong side of the road and swerved to avoid hitting a car and bus.

Chevathen, a father of nine, came unstuck when he stopped to try to fix a flat tyre – he had been driving on the rim- and a security officer approached him.

He threw objects at the man and ran.

Police pursued him and Chevathen threatened them with the tyre iron, hit one of them in the arm with the tyre iron and threw the tyre at them.

He was tasered.

The court heard he had an 11-page criminal history with violent offending, including punching people so hard they were knocked unconscious and fell to the ground.

Cairns District Court heard Wayne Stuart Chevathen threatened security officers and police with a tyre iron, hitting one police officer before throwing it, at which point he was tasered. Picture: Supplied

Defence barrister Kelly Goodwin said Chevathen denied being on any illicit substances but had been diagnosed with schizo affective disorder and was not adhering to his medication regime, involving a fortnightly depot injection, because he was banned for life from Cairns Hospital and Edmonton Medical Clinic because of previous violence.

He said Chevathen had been getting medication from Wuchopperen Indigenous Medical Centre at Manoora but had disengaged from them, saying his medication made him irritable.

“He has engaged in mental health services in custody, has done a drug and alcohol course and a numeracy and literacy course, he takes full responsibility for all the offending conduct,” Mr Goodwin said.

Mr Goodwin outlined a dysfunctional childhood with parents with mental illness and substance abuse issues.

He said Chevathen’s long-term plan was to live with an aunt at Mapoon and get work on a cattle station.

Judge Paul Smith said it was very serious offending but Mr Goodwin had made persuasive submissions on his behalf.

“I’m impressed you’ve done those courses in jail and that you have a reasonable plan upon release,” Judge Smith said.

He handed down a head sentence of four years, with parole eligibility from August 25, 2023, and declared 402 days in pre-sentence custody as time already served.

Originally published as Cairns crime: Wayne Stuart Chevathen guilty to robbery while armed in company after taxi carjacking