Shaun Lindsay Dunn found guilty by jury in Roma District Court to break and enter, assault and grievous bodily harm

A Mitchell man found guilty of shattering a man’s leg and striking another on the head with a machete has been sentenced, with a judge revealing his dark past.

Shaun Lindsay Dunn found guilty in Roma District Court of burglary, armed assault, grievous bodily harm and serious assault of a police officer.

Following a three-day trial, a Mitchell man has been found guilty of shattering a man’s leg during a home invasion and striking another man with a machete in two separate incidents in August last year.

Shaun Lindsay Dunn has been convicted in Roma District Court of burglary, assault while armed, grievous bodily harm and a fourth charge of serious assault of a police officer which was not part of the trial.

During his closing statements, Crown prosecutor Matt Le Grand told the court it was Dunn’s desperate quest to find drugs that led to his offending.

Mr Le Grand told the jury that on August 21 and 22 Dunn was observed approaching several houses looking for drugs with his attempts escalating to actual violence on two of those instances.

Mr Le Grand said a couple of hours before the first incident, Dunn visited a friend of his mother and asked her for drugs which she corroborated in her witness testimony.

She also told the court Dunn was wearing all dark clothes and was accompanied by another male who was standing at the edge of the property, which was later revealed to be a younger family member of his.

After failing to secure drugs Dunn visited another Mitchell address where he “kicked in” the door and struck the occupant on the head with a “bladed instrument” before yelling “take that you dog”.

A family friend who was with Dunn at the time of the home invasion and assault told the jury the group of three were walking along the train tracks when Dunn departed the group through a hole in the fence.

The other young male said in court Dunn told them to “sing out” if they see someone.

The family friend testified in court he then heard a “loud commotion” with lots of banging and shouting coming from the direction Dunn walked away in, with Dunn rejoining the group shortly after the commotion ended.

During the court testimony, the family friend confirmed Dunn was wearing all black clothes and had a black Covid-19 mask covering his face, however it was later revealed the witness left out the black face mask detail during the official police statement he made.

The next day on August 22 Dunn went to a family member’s house where he attacked the man in his front yard and demanded to take his epilepsy medication.

The man suffered a broken leg and had to be taken to Toowoomba Hospital.

Shaun Lindsay Dunn found guilty in Roma District Court of burglary, armed assault, grievous bodily harm and serious assault of a police officer.

Mr Le Grand said the man initially told emergency operators he fell because he didn’t want to “rat out a family member” however he said he later told police what really happened.

Later that night at a birthday party at Mitchell address, a witness overheard a conversation where Dunn was told about a man’s leg being shattered.

The witness said Dunn replied with, “no way, I didn’t hit him that hard, I only hit him in chest”.

Another witness at the party said Dunn told her he was looking for “subbies” (a kind of pharmaceutical drug), so the defendant and a group of party goers left the address and walked around the neighbourhood asking for drugs.

The same witness said as they were walking through the residential streets, Dunn pointed at a house and said “isn’t that where I f – ked up.”

Roma Court House.

On the afternoon of the third day of trial, the jury unanimously provided a guilty verdict for all three charges.

The following day Judge Ken Barlow KC made his final remarks and also dealt with another charge that Dunn pleaded guilty to, namely seriously assaulting a police officer.

“Wearing dark clothes, including a hoodie and Covid mask, you gained violent entry to the house of the complainant,” Judge Barlow said.

“You appeared to have entered it by breaking open the screen security door and by violently breaking in through the wooden door which was locked.

“You took with you a machete and as soon as you opened the wooden door you saw the complainant standing there and you attacked him by swinging the blade at the top of his head causing a laceration.”

Judge Barlow said this complainant now has a permanent dent in his skull from the attack and the defendant is lucky to not have killed him.

Judge Barlow then told the court how the defendant assaulted a family member and “callously” left him on the ground as he walked away.

“You kicked him very had in his right leg and fractured both bones in that leg. He fell to the ground and you continued to assault him while he was on the ground, then left him in the front yard of his home.

“He had to drag himself into his home to telephone emergency services.

“Your (family member) reported you to police and when police arrived at the birthday party to arrest you, you threw a glass at them which struck the finger of one of the officers.”

Dun was then arrested by police and detained in custody where he has remained since for more than a year.

Dunn’s shockingly violent criminal history, which was hidden from jurors, was then exposed to the court during the sentencing, including prior convictions for stabbing two people which resulted in the death of one of them.

The court was told Dunn had assaulted numerous prison guards during previous stints in jail.

Dunn was speechless from the dock, with his eyes downcast as the judge sentenced him to 10 years and four months imprisonment.

He will be eligible to apply for parole after serving seven years behind bars.

All convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Shaun Lindsay Dunn found guilty by jury in Roma District Court to break and enter, assault and grievous bodily harm