10 strange Bundaberg court cases revealed
A bin bandit, a trailer theft with a dog and two people stuck inside, a briefcase packed with guns: Here are some of the most unusual and quirky crimes that raised eyebrows in the Bundaberg courts over the past year.
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They’re the stories out of the ordinary, the ones that raise an eyebrow. While they’re no less serious than any other case before the courts, they stand out for their own unusual reasons.
Here are 10 of the most unusual court cases from Bundaberg’s courtrooms in the past year.
Convictions recorded
Dog forced to jump to safety after theft
A young Bundaberg man‘s theft of a vehicle led him straight to district court.
In a terrifying twist, Bailey Clout stole a dog grooming vehicle that happened to have two people and a dog inside it at the time.
The frightened animal was forced to jump to safety, while its groomers frantically called police.
Clout‘s offences had already earned him a two-year suspended prison term.
He was granted immediate parole eligibility after pleading guilty to breaching that suspended sentence.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a motor vehicle and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Snake excuse a bizarre explanation
A 46-year-old woman told a court she had a syringe in her possession because she had used it to flush her leg with water after being bitten by a snake.
Tracey Anne Bills, 46, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court to knowingly unlawfully moving tobacco and failing to take reasonable care and precaution of a syringe.
The police prosecutor told the court he was “not prepared to accept” Bills‘ excuse.
“There’s no allegation of use of drugs, (but) it’s just not feasible,“ he said.
She was fined $1250, referred to SPER, and convictions were recorded.
Dared to steal a bin
Bundaberg Magistrates Court heard the bizarre details of how a woman stole a bin from the toilets of Hinkler Central shopping centre.
Kylene Scott pleaded guilty to three offences, including driving with a relevant drug in her saliva and driving while disqualified by a court, but it was the stealing charge that raised eyebrows.
The court heard Scott went to the shopping centre where she took her trolley to the bathroom, exiting with a shopping centre bin.
When asked to explain why she took the bin, Scott said she had done it on a dare.
No convictions recorded
Prang sparks accidental gun theft
When an elderly driver nudged their car in a shopping centre car park, two ‘silly’ mates decided to teach him a lesson, a choice which would lead to guns, multiple search warrants and a police stake out.
The pair, including Liam Andreas McIlroy, took a suitcase from the man who nudged their car after initially telling him it was fine.
They planned to get something back for the damage, but found themselves in hot water when they realised they‘d stolen a sports shooter’s guns.
McIlroy told the court things ended up getting much worse than he thought they would, and a police stake out would eventually lead to the location of the guns.
Later, the man whose guns were in the car also faced court for not having secured the weapons properly according to the law.
McIlroy pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court to entering a premises and committing an indictable offence.
He was fined $500 and no conviction was recorded.
Naked, high and doing laundry in a stadium fountain
A Bundaberg man said he turned his life around after he was discovered naked, washing his clothes in a fountain outside Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.
Jackson Ian Gray told a Bundaberg court he‘d been going through some tough times when he did what he did and had since started up a business.
Gray was also found to have 0.50g of meth with him at the time.
He pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs and failing to appear in accordance with an undertaking.
Gray was fined a total of $700 and convictions were not recorded.
Man spreads blood, makes ‘snow angel’
Harri Lliam Howells was just 18 when he made a snow angel out of his own blood at the Bundaberg watch house.
Howells had been drinking with friends when he dropped a stubby, cutting his foot.
Police found him on Elliott Heads Rd, and he told them he needed a lift home.
But the teenager took offence when police wouldn‘t shake his hand, and threw his bloody bandage at an officer’s knee.
He was then taken to the watch house, where he knocked his foot to make it bleed and spread it over 80 per cent of the floor, the court was told.
The defendant said he had no memory of the incident, and, pleading guilty to assaulting police and wilful damage, was fined $1424.50 and sentenced to 40 hours‘ community service with no conviction recorded.
Theft to make up for someone else's crime
When Codie Leigh Burt fronted court and pleaded guilty to unauthorised dealing of shop goods, no one could have realised the story what would unfold.
Burt, 20, had borrowed a blow torch from her friend and felt bad when that blow torch was stolen.
In order to make up for the stolen item, she decided to go to Bunnings and steal a blow torch herself.
She was spotted taking the $79.98 item on CCTV.
Burt was fined $300, referred to SPER and was ordered to pay $79.98 to Bunnings at Kensington.
No conviction was recorded.
Woman in 70s lured into puppy scam
Lonely and lured into a scam by a former friend-turned internet love interest, a Bundaberg migrant accepted thousands in exchange for a puppy that did not exist.
The act, committed by Hasniyah Murad, 74, landed her in Bundaberg Magistrates Court where she pleaded guilty to fraud and possessing tainted property.
The court heard a Malaysian man who Murad had known had told her she could keep some of the money she made from tricking buyers into purchasing puppies that didn’t exist.
The rest would be sent to him.
Murad was placed on a $1000 good behaviour bond for 12 months.
She was also ordered to pay $200 restitution and a conviction was not recorded.
Coming clean on laundromat theft
A Bundaberg mum could not explain why she walked into a Bundaberg laundromat and stole its Covid-19 check-in posters.
Magistrate Andrew Moloney noted that while there was no personal value for Lauren Michelle Thomas in the stealing, the check-in system was set up as a public health measure in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and there was a risk to the community in general.
He said it was fortunate no-one‘s health had been disadvantaged by the poster’s theft.
Thomas pleaded guilty to stealing and was fined $300, referred to SPER with no conviction recorded.
Man tries flushing prison jumper
When a Bundaberg dad had a drunken night out on the town, abusing some chaplains and challenging them to a fight, he later became abusive and threatening with police.
By the time he got to the watch house, he bizarrely tried to flush a prison jumper down the toilet.
Jayden Richard Burke pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance.
He was fined $850, referred to SPER.
No conviction was recorded.
Originally published as 10 strange Bundaberg court cases revealed
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