Qld Attorney-General loses fight against Brock Andrew McDonald’s jail term

The Supreme Court has given its reasons for not supporting an appeal against the sentence of a man who attacked a teenage girl in the middle of the night and dragged her into his car with a rope around her neck.

Brock Andrew McDonald, 44, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm over the attack which happened on October 21, 2023.

Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has failed in her bid to extend the sentence of a man who randomly attacked a teenage girl by tying a rope around her neck while she walked home.

Brock Andrew McDonald, 44, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm over the attack which happened on October 21, 2023.

The Bundaberg District Court heard McDonald had parked his white Toyota Corolla in a carpark at the regional Queensland city about 2.50am.

As his 18-year-old victim walked home, he approached her and tied a rope around her neck.

He then forced the teen face down into the back of his car, telling her not to look at him.

Brock Andrew McDonald, 44, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm over the attack which happened on October 21, 2023.

When he knelt over her and removed the rope, she escaped, snatching her phone back and fleeing into nearby bushes, where she hid and called a friend for help.

The teen was left with rope burns around her neck and abrasions on her right knee and thigh.

McDonald was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ jail with immediate parole, having already served 413 days of pre-sentence custody.

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Ms Frecklington appealed the sentence claiming it was manifestly inadequate, submitting the court should impose a sentence of no less than three years’ jail.

On Friday, May 30, her appeal was dismissed by the Queensland Supreme Court which found the Attorney-General could not demonstrate McDonald’s sentence was inadequate.

In its published appeal the court said the Attorney-General’s application was based on the “fundamental misconception” sentences in kidnapping cases were similar to McDonald’s offending, the court’s published ruling said.

On May 30, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington’s appeal seeking a longer sentence for Brock McDonald was dismissed by the Queensland Supreme Court which found the Attorney-General could not demonstrate the original sentence was inadequate.

The appeal’s submissions “effectively ignored the consequences” of the Crown prosecution’s choices in how it framed the charges, the court said.

These included that an initial set of charges of disabling to commit an indictable offence – which carried a maximum life sentence – and deprivation of liberty were withdrawn and replaced with the charges McDonald pleaded guilty to, which now only had a maximum of seven years’ jail.

The court further found the sentencing Judge had taken into account other factors including McDonald’s diagnosis of lung cancer which meant he “might have only six to 10 months left to live”.

At the original sentencing the Judge said “there seems little utility in imposing a longer sentence, which is one that on your current medical information, you may not live to see the end of”, the published decision said.

Originally published as Qld Attorney-General loses fight against Brock Andrew McDonald’s jail term