Homeless Maryborough man throws bottle at police station to go back to prison

A homeless man deliberately threw a bottle at a police station and fessed up to another crime police wouldn’t have otherwise pinged him for in an effort to return to jail, a court has heard.

A homeless Maryborough man threw a bottle at a police station and admitted to breaching a domestic violence order in an effort to return to prison, a court has heard.

A homeless Maryborough man threw a bottle at a police station and admitted to breaching a domestic violence order in an effort to return to prison, a court has heard.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of causing a public nuisance and breaching a domestic violence order when he faced Maryborough Magistrates Court this month.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Sonia Edwards said on August 9, 2024, police had received a call from Community Corrections about the man making a threat to come to the police station to throw a brick through the window in order to get arrested.

About 10am the same day, the man went to the police station and threw a glass bottle at the front sliding door of the station.

The man was subsequently arrested, and he told the officers he wanted to be arrested because he had no fixed address and probation and parole would not issue a return to prison warrant for him, Sgt Edwards said.

In regard to the second charge, the man was the subject of a domestic violence order that required him to stay at least 100 metres away from the woman’s address, the court heard.

In custody he said that he had no fixed address and he had contacted the aggrieved and had been staying with her as he had nowhere else to stay, Sgt Edwards said.

Maryborough Courthouse. Photo: Valerie Horton/ Fraser Coast Chronicle.

She said police would not have been aware of the breach of the domestic violence order without his acknowledgment.

The man had been on parole for matters involving the aggrieved, the court heard, but his parole had not been suspended as a result of the new charges.

The court heard the man had a difficult childhood in which he had lost his father to an overdose and had been exposed to drugs.

The man had worked in the past, the court heard, including in the timber industry and as a removalist.

At the time the man had been struggling in the community and had been using drugs.

He had asked probation and parole to issue a return to prison warrant and told them he was homeless and couldn’t deal with things, the court heard.

The man had recently been getting help for his drug use and had been engaged in counselling, the court was told.

He had been in custody in regard to the matters for three weeks and was now in a far better headspace and felt he could manage back in the community.

Magistrate John Milburn said the man “must comply” with domestic violence orders regardless of his personal circumstances and even if he was at the home by invitation.

He said the man had spent 25 days in custody and sentenced him to one month in prison, wholly suspended for six months.

In relation to the public nuisance charge, the man was fined $300.

Convictions were recorded.

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Originally published as Homeless Maryborough man throws bottle at police station to go back to prison