Elderly mother hid “in the cupboard” as son unleashed

A 45-year-old man has been charged with eight offences, including for an incident in which his elderly mother allegedly had “hidden (from him) in the cupboard until police arrived”.

A 45-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to further time in jail after allegedly "intimidating his elderly mother who lives alone."

Hervey Bay Magistrates Court heard on Monday the defendant's mother had "hidden in the cupboard" from his violence before she, and neighbours, called police.

"Breaches before the court involve the defendant intimidating his elderly mother who lives alone in her unit," Police Prosecutor Louese McConnell told the court.

"(His elderly mother) is so fearful of the defendant that during one incident she's hidden in the cupboard until police have arrived."

Appearing via video-link, the 45-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was said to have an alcohol "issue" which aggravated his offences.

"Alcohol is clearly an issue for the defendant," the Prosecutor said.

"Previous breaches in his history, they all involve intimidation, verbal abuse and alcohol ... all stemming from the same circumstances."

The events leading up to the alleged abuse on his elderly mother "unfortunately came after a period of sobriety" Defence Duty lawyer Hamish Isles told the court.

"This particular incident, unfortunately, came after a period of sobriety, he had made a resolution with himself at the end of last year to attempt to address issues with alcohol," he said.

"Under the influence of some... colleagues, he had a few alcoholic beverages with the result that unfortunately, he had relapsed which lead to this offending."

With a criminal history including violent offences, the prosecutor said the defendant must be "punished in such a matter to deter him" from recommitting similar offences.

"The violent offences on his history - noting that entry for the attempted robbery, threaten actual violence armed - he was sentenced to a lengthy-term imprisonment for," Prosecutor McConnell told the court.

"It's important for the defendant to be punished in such a manner that would deter him and others in the community from committing the same similar offences".

The Defence mentioned the man receives disability support pension funding, recently being let go of his "fairly significant history in the hospitality sector".

"In order to return to the workforce, he has to address his issues with alcohol."

The man was charged with eight offences, pleading guilty to three counts of bail breach, three counts of DV breach, one count of obstructing police, and one count of assaulting police.

"For each of these offences, you'll be convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment, they will be concurrent," the Magistrate said.

"All other offences ... I'm going to impose one fine, you be convicted and fined $1,000, in default, 10 days imprisonment".

He was given a parole release date set to be April 29, 2021.

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