Qld man chased neighbours with pitchfork after they tried to rob him: court
A man chased a neighbour away from his home with a pitchfork – even jabbing her – when she rocked up at his place with terrifying intentions.
A woman and her partner’s bungled burglary attempt on a neighbour ended with them being chased away with a pitchfork, a court has been told.
Samantha Lea Parker and her partner Brandon James Ogborne left a trail of blood to their Wynnum West home after they were both jabbed with the pitchfork by Robert Hodson, 65, back in April last year.
Police and paramedics arrived at her home before Parker’s behaviour turned violent before she was taken to hospital.
Parker, 40, sat silently through her sentencing at Brisbane District Court on Tuesday.
She pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including burglary, seriously assaulting a person over 60, wilful damage and serious assault of a police officer.
The court was told Parker and Ogborne attended Mr Hodson’s house on April 17, 2020 demanding to be let in.
After Mr Hodson refused, he heard banging and shaking on the front door and one of the pair shouting “I’m going to kill you”.
Crown prosecutor Shireen Long said Parker, who was armed with a pair of garden shears, “led the charge” into the home by breaking a sliding door.
She said Parker had smashed a bathroom mirror and damaged another door to get her way in.
Ogborne had armed himself with a metal dumbbell bar.
The pair attempted to enter the bedroom as Mr Hodson and a visitor in the home armed themselves with a pitchfork and baseball bat respectively.
Parker and Ogborne were chased out of the house by Mr Hodson, who jabbed at them with the pitchfork and caused puncture wounds.
Police followed a trail of blood back to their nearby home and arrested her.
Ms Long said Parker became so agitated on her way to hospital the ambulance had to pull over.
She fled and was found urinating outside a shop in Wynnum West.
Parker began spitting at police and paramedics and had to be sedated.
“No spit landed on the officers despite the defendant spitting 10-15 times at them,” Ms Long said.
She said Parker was “more culpable” in the offending than Ogborne as she led the way and swung the shears at the home’s occupants.
Ms Long said an aggravating feature involved Parker spitting at officers at a time when Queensland was in a heightened stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parker’s defence lawyer Mark McCarthy said his client’s behaviour was “out of character” as her criminal history was limited to magistrates-court level offences that involved no violence.
Parker had consumed “half a bottle of bourbon” on the night and Mr McCarthy said she had a history of anxiety and depression.
Mr MrCarthy said the incident arose over what Parker perceived as a “threat” made to herself and her young children by another person living at Mr Hodson’s house.
The court was told she had gone over to “confront” the other person, arming herself with the shears in the process.
Chief judge Brian Devereaux said Parker’s actions had caused Mr Hodson to feel “unsafe” in his own home of more than 20 years.
Parker received a head sentence of Two-and-a-half years in jail. With time served, she will be eligible for parole in November.
Judge Devereaux rejected submissions of her immediate release, saying it would be treating the seriousness of her offending “too leniently”.
Earlier this year, Ogborne was sentenced to Two-and-a-half years jail for his role in the burglary but was released immediately on parole.