Mark Reynold Pearson: Ingham business owner pleads guilty to Blackrock burglary

A young North Queensland business owner who ransacked an elderly couple’s farmhouse during a botched burglary has avoided being locked behind bars.

Mark Reynold Pearson.

A young North Queensland business owner who ransacked an elderly couple’s farmhouse during a botched burglary caught on camera has avoided being locked behind bars.

Mark Reynold Pearson, 23, pleaded guilty in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday to the sole charge of entering the home and stealing a sugarcane knife in Black Rock, Hinchinbrook, on July 4.

Queensland Police Service prosecutor Danny Burke said Ingham Police were called to the break-in of unoccupied property belonging to a married couple aged 76 and 84 at 2.47am on a Thursday.

As Pearson shook his head, Mr Burke said the Ingham man damaged a wooden sliding door at the rear of the home to gain entry to the property.

“Police observed cupboards and drawers to be opened, items strewn and thrown around inside the dwelling, significant damage done to the top-right corner of the gun safe that they’ve attempted to gain entry to,” he said.

“They’ve removed a large cane knife from the dwelling, this is all captured on CCTV footage.”

Mark Reynold Pearson.

Mr Burke said Pearson and his co-offenders then left the property in a white sedan.

He said the punishment for the offending went beyond a simple fine, agreeing with Magistrate Peter Smid that Pearson was staring down the barrel of a prison sentence.

“He has no prior history of a like nature, perhaps a short period of imprisonment,” he said.

“Ultimately I’m in your honours hands whether that is suspended or he is given the benefit of parole.”

Pearson, who was self represented, appeared genuinely remorseful and said he was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

“It wasn’t planned, I don’t do that sort of stuff.”

The defendant said he had just started a GST-registered carpentry and maintenance business.

Magistrate Smid told Pearson that the offending merited a prison sentence but his lack of a criminal history and early guilty plea were in his favour.

Pearson was jailed for nine months, wholly suspended for 18 months.

“That means if you commit another offence punishable by imprisonment in the next 18 months, you are likely to have to do all or part of the nine months that is hanging over your head,” he said.

“I’m confident you won’t be back (before the court).”

Originally published as Mark Reynold Pearson: Ingham business owner pleads guilty to Blackrock burglary