Wide Bay’s violent or abusive male offenders of 2024
Domestic violence or assault offences continue to be a major problem for the Wide Bay Burnett, with offence numbers continuing to increase. Warning: Distressing Content
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Domestic violence, erratic outbursts, and gang mentality punch-ups filled Wide Bay courts over the past year.
1633 assault offences were reported in the region over the past year, with 27 offences already documented in the first eight days of January.
Although only a small increase, this figure is up by 4 per cent compared to the same period from 2023.
These are just 20 of the many men who have faced Wide Bay courts for violent and abusive behaviour in the last year.
Beau Thomas Edwards
A Hervey Bay father-of-two who punched the mother of his children in the face was on parole at the time for similar offending.
Beau Thomas Edwards, 20, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault when he faced Hervey Bay District Court.
The court heard in relation to the first incident, there had been an argument between the two in their bedroom and Edwards had punched the victim in the right eye, causing her to fall back onto the bed.
The woman suffered bruising as a result of the incident.
In relation to the common assault, Edwards grabbed the woman by the shirt and pushed her into the kitchen bench.
Then, while she walked away, he wrestled her to the ground, causing the woman to call out for help and for police to be called.
Edwards was given a head sentence of 12 months in prison, immediately suspended for an operational period of two years.
He was also sentenced to two years on probation.
Read more here
Gregory Wayne Marks
During a Hervey Bay District Court sentencing in November, the court heard Gregory Wayne Marks, 39, had been in a relationship with his victim, and the two were living together at the time of the offence.
The court heard there had been an argument after Marks drove the woman’s son to school, the court heard.
Marks grabbed her by the throat using both hands and forced her backwards against a wall.
He then applied pressure to her throat, impairing her breathing and making her struggle to swallow, the court heard.
He removed his hands from around her throat but then pressed his right forearm to her throat area and pinned her.
Marks then repeatedly punched the woman to both sides of her head, the court was told.
Marks then told the woman: “If you don’t stop lying to me I’m going to kill you”.
The victim suffered a ruptured blood vessel in her right eye and a bruised tongue.
Marks pleaded guilty to strangulation, common assault and six counts of wilful damage.
Judge Gary Long convicted Marks and sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison, with 325 days declared as time served.
Read more here
Jai Andrew Lewis Keet
Jai Andrew Lewis Keet, 34, arrived at a house in Burnett Heads on October 21, 2021, where he demanded for a woman to tell him who was messaging her.
Prosecutor Michael Gawrych told Hervey Bay District Court that Keet soon became physical with the complainant, reaching for her phone before forcefully pushing her to the ground and restraining her there.
He repeatedly called her a “f****** s***” while she was pinned, Mr Gawrych said.
Keet then grabbed the complainant’s arm that was holding her phone and repeatedly swung it into the concrete floor ten times, inevitably fracturing her wrist.
She was then picked up and pushed towards the bedroom, where Keet punched a “fist-sized” hole in two of the doors, before closing the bedroom door and holding the doorknob so she could not get out.
He continued abusing her in the bedroom when she asked to be transported to hospital as a result of her wrist injury, but Keet declined and broke a curtain rod as he left.
The victim was later evicted from the home due to the damage caused by Keet.
In a separate incident, he parked out the front of her house, yelled at the home to create attention, then made a “gun gesture” with his hands when she saw him.
Keet pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, deprivation of liberty, committing wilful damage, and threatening violence.
He was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment with an immediate parole date of 14 November, 2024.
Read more here
Ronald George Weilden
A Fraser Coast man and four other men armed themselves with a baseball bat and a taser before launching an attack on a person he had a “grievance” with, a court heard.
During a sentencing hearing at the Hervey Bay District Court in November, the court heard Weilden had his head covered and was carrying a baseball bat before going into the man’s front yard.
He swung the bat at his victim before pushing him into a wall.
The court heard the victim pleaded with Weilden to stop, but he instead asked the other four men, who were all “armed with bats and similar items”, to help him.
The victim managed to escape the assault at one point, but Weilden chased him and punched him in the head, causing him to fall to the ground.
The other men then joined in and at some point Weilden used a taser on the victim’s torso.
Weilden pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company, unlawful possession of a weapon, wilful damage, breach of bail condition, stealing, trespass, contravene a direction or requirement and possession of a knife in a public place.
Weilden was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, with presentence custody declared as time served.
He will be eligible for parole on June 6, 2025.
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Andrew Glenn Hovington
A knife-wielding man who had just been placed in emergency housing with his family bit the accommodation manager’s nipple before slashing his throat, a court heard.
Andrew Glenn Hovington, 37, pleaded guilty to going armed so as to cause fear, serious assault and unlawful wounding when he faced Hervey Bay District Court in August.
The incident occurred on February 1, 2024, when Hovington and his family were given emergency housing with an accommodation provider in Urangan.
The manager of the complex approached Hovington after he began playing loud music.
Hovington confronted the manager, headbutted him and made his nose bleed, the court was told.
He then grabbed the older man and dragged him to the ground, punching him and biting his nipple, causing an abrasion.
Hovington then produced the knife and lashed out with it, leaving a 2.5cm wound on the left side of the manager’s neck, which required stitching.
Hovington was given a head sentence of three years in prison.
A parole release date was set for January 31, 2025.
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Russell Glenn Thomas
Russell Glenn Thomas, 36, pleaded guilty to a number of offences including assault occasioning bodily harm, three common assault offences and wilful damage, when he faced Hervey Bay District Court in July.
The court heard Thomas had committed a number of violent offences and property offences against his wife, Chloe Brown, whom he had married in 2019.
The two had lived together at a home in Sunshine Acres, the court heard, and the offences had happened over a number of years.
Judge Farr sentenced Thomas to nine months in prison, suspended for an operational period of 18 months.
He was also sentenced to 18 months on probation.
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Raymond Griffiths
A Gympie labourer who pointed a pen gun at his partner’s head before firing at her car had the book thrown at him by a judge who rejected a proposed sentence as “inadequate” and gave him a heftier one instead.
Raymond Griffiths, 31, faced the Gympie District Court in July on multiple domestic violence charges including numerous order breaches and the violent attack on the woman in mid 2023.
The court heard Griffiths confronted the woman when he found her in her car near a Gympie park, not far from a school on July 19, 2023.
She had gone there to try to hide from him.
Griffiths walked up and accused her of sleeping with another person, the court heard.
The woman then got out of her car, at which point he pulled a 20cm long silver pen gun from his pocket and pointed it at her.
During the argument Griffiths pointed the weapon at her head three times and pushed her twice against the car, before returning to his own vehicle to phone one of his family members at the woman’s request.
He kept the weapon pointed out the window while on the phone, before driving nearby and firing the weapon into the bottom of her car’s left back passenger side door.
Griffiths left shortly after, and the woman reported the incident to police.
When interviewed by police, Griffiths lied, Judge Jennifer Rosengren said.
His latest crimes, to which he pleaded guilty, included possessing a weapon, discharging a weapon, common assault, wilful damage, and 11 breaches of domestic violence orders in aggravated circumstances.
He was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Judge Rosengren declared 177 days already served, and declared he would be eligible for parole on July 14, 2025.
Read more here
Grahame Anthony Evans
A serial domestic abuser who strangled his partner and threatened her with a knife has been sentenced.
Grahame Anthony Evans pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay District Court to two counts of threatening violence, one count of strangulation, one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault.
Evans had been in a relationship with the woman for about four months at the time, when she was 31 and he was 48.
Evans had gone to the woman’s house and accused of her lying about going out that night before grabbing her by the neck and pulling her down.
He was pushed off by the woman’s mother and he later sent threatening messages, the court heard.
The following day Evans tried to contact the woman, who ignored his calls.
He threatened to send people there “out of frustration”, the court heard.
The woman later met with Evans, approaching his car where they spoke for a short time before he became angry, and he pulled out a knife and threatened her.
A number of days later, Evans and the woman were speaking when he became angry.
He grabbed her by the neck and hair and pulled her down to the ground and pinned her down before he let her go.
The woman went with him back to the car and they drove out of the car park, when he threatened to drive the car off a cliff.
After kicking the woman, he used his hand to hold her down.
Grabbing her around the throat, he squeezed until she had difficulty breathing and her vision went blurry, the court heard.
He then spat on the woman before punching her twice and continuing to threaten her.
Police became involved and a warrant was issued for Evan’s arrest.
He was located and arrested on October 25, 2023, the court heard.
Judge Burnett gave Evans a head sentence of four years and two months in prison.
He also activated a suspended sentence Evans had been serving with a year and nine months remaining on it in its entirety.
A parole eligibility date was set for October 25, 2024.
Read more here
Todd Gary Ashwood
Using a nail to arm himself during a fistfight with another man landed Todd Gary Ashwood before Maryborough District Court.
Ashwood pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed when he faced court in January, 2024.
The court heard Ashwood, 44, was involved in an altercation with a man who was known to him on April 27, 2023.
The two were in a car park and “shaped up towards each other”. The other man consented to a fist fight, but was unaware Ashwood had armed himself with a nail, the court was told.
The victim was struck twice with the nail, leaving him with puncture wounds to his abdomen.
He received scans to clear him of serious injury but needed no other treatment.
Ashwood was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
He had already served 178 days in presentence custody, Judge Clare said.
Ashwood was given immediate release on parole.
Read more here
Montell Parrish Noel Harrison
Montell Parrish Noel Harrison, 22, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning bodily harm while armed when he faced Hervey Bay District Court in March.
The court heard that on April 2, 2023, at midnight, Harrison was at the BeachHouse Hotel in Scarness when an argument between two groups broke out.
It heard one individual had attempted to separate the group but Harrison struck him in the side of the jaw as he was doing so.
Five minutes after the groups separated, Harrison once again approached the victim who pushed him away.
He responded to the push by once again punching him in the face, causing him to bleed from the mouth and shattering his jaw.
Crown Prosecutor Dani Giorgio told the court the victim was unable to eat solid food for six weeks.
Judge Glen Cash told Harrison “without medical treatment, the victim would have suffered permanent damage to his health”.
Less than two weeks later, Harrison violently assaulted someone else.
The court heard that at 2am on April 15, 2022, Harrison and seven other people confronted a man outside the Torquay Hotel on the Esplanade after they were kicked out of the venue.
An altercation then occurred which resulted in the man fleeing into the pub’s car park, where he slipped and was subsequently set upon by Harrison and his associates.
Ms Giorgio told the court the victim was kicked and punched repeatedly in the head and chest before losing consciousness while also having his phone smashed by Harrison.
Harrison’s legal representative Tristain Carlos said the incident was caused by “racial taunts” directed at the defendant’s group.
Judge Cash sentenced Harrison to three and a half months in jail for grievous bodily harm and two years for the assault causing bodily harm.
He will be eligible for parole on December 22, 2024.
Convictions were recorded
Read more here
Christopher Daniel Rose
A former representative rugby union star told his partner he was going to “dig a little hole” after beating her to unconsciousness and driving recklessly to a secluded bush location while trapped in the boot with duct tape and a shovel.
Central Queensland rugby winger Christopher Daniel Rose pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning bodily harm, deprivation of liberty and unlawful use of a motor vehicle for a “terrifying” episode heard at Bundaberg District Court in February.
On the day of the offending in September 2022, the victim decided to break off the relationship with Rose due to some threats he had made to one of her family members and went to his Rubyanna home to inform him of that decision.
The discussion escalated to an argument about the threats Rose had made to the victim, and at some point Rose got into the passenger’s seat of the victim’s car and asked her to drive him somewhere.
While the victim was in the driver’s seat, with the car still stationary in front of Rose’s home, Rose suddenly attacked her by repeatedly punching her in the face.
Rose then pulled the victim by the hair towards him and kneed her in the face with such force that she was knocked unconscious for an “extended period of time”, the court heard.
When the victim regained consciousness, she found herself stripped of her shirt in the boot of the car along with duct tape and a shovel, with the car travelling at speeds up to 170 km/h along a highway.
At one point during the “terrifying” drive through the night, Rose saw that the victim had regained consciousness and told her “you’ve been asleep for a long time sleeping beauty, we’re going to go out and dig a little hole”.
While she remained trapped in the boot, Rose began digging in the ground nearby and told her he was looking for a gun, the court heard.
Being unable to find the weapon, Rose re-entered the car to drive to another location but found the car had become bogged and he spent around 90 minutes digging the car out, the court heard.
Judge Leanne Clare ordered Rose serve a head sentence of six years’ imprisonment, with a parole eligibility date of January 31, 2025.
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Ashley James McInnes
Ashley James McInnes, 26, appeared in Gympie District Court in February and pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, relating to an incident in December, 2020.
McInnes, who was 23 at the time, visited the Glenwood home of his then-girlfriend’s former partner to pick up some of her things from his garage, Crown Prosecutor Burn said.
While he was at the house, McInnes demanded the 42-year-old man’s phone, wanting to check if he had photos of his girlfriend on it, the court heard.
McInnes then assaulted the man, kicking him in the head, chest and ribs, “a dozen times”, and when he was on the ground “in a defensive position” he stomped on his head and continued to kick him in the chest, the court heard.
He suffered “relatively minor injuries with some soft tissue damage” and has complained of ongoing headaches due to the assault, the court heard.
Judge Cash sentenced McInnes to 18 months’ imprisonment with immediate parole, taking into account his 82 days in pre-custody.
Read more here
Trent John Bevin
A former meat worker and father-of-seven was jailed for repeatedly abusing his partner in a shocking series of crimes.
Trent John Bevin, 47, carried out his abuse while in a relationship with a woman at Kandanga across more than a year, from December 2021 to January 2023.
The first incident happened when Bevin stabbed his partner in her right wrist with a fork, drawing blood, while they were eating in bed, the court was told.
The second attack happened in late 2022, once again when Bevin and his victim were together in bed.
On that occasion he grabbed a machete from next to the bed and slashed it across her wrist, cutting it open.
Bevin then refused to take her to a doctor and instead tried to close the wound with superglue.
The final attack happened at the end of November 2022.
The court was told paint had been spilt on Bevin’s shoes, and an argument erupted.
During this fight, Bevin grabbed a gel blaster and shoved it in the woman’s mouth, cutting her chin.
This wound led to neighbours calling police.
Then on January 3, 2023, while they were packing up a tent in the backyard, Bevin became angry and punched her in the face.
Police were again called, and Bevin denied the allegation.
The court then heard six days later, on January 9, Bevin started bashing his partner as she was trying to leave the house.
She fell to the ground in the fight at which point he grabbed her by the neck and started strangling her, leaving her unable to breathe for several seconds.
His victim managed to break free and call for help and the police.
Bevin, who had spent 424 days in pre-sentence custody, ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, one count of unlawful assault, and one count of strangulation.
Judge Gary Long sentenced the 47-year-old to four years’ jail.
He was made eligible for parole on July 14, 2024.
Read more here
Nathan Eric McCracken
Nathan Eric McCracken, a 47-year-old boilermaker, pleaded guilty to two counts of strangulation, one count of wilful damage, one count of assault occasioning bodily harm, and two counts of common assault in Bundaberg District Court in December.
He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of common assault which was later dropped by the prosecution.
During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, December 11, the court heard McCracken had previously been convicted of stalking and intending to cause harm to an individual.
The most recent offending began in January 2023, three months after McCracken was granted parole on other charges, when his former partner asked a “seemingly innocent” question about the whereabouts of his van.
The court heard McCracken strangled the woman for three minutes, at which point the victim was foaming at the mouth and felt she might defecate.
McCracken then threw the woman to the ground and stomped on her ribs, saying “I f*****g told you not to start s***”.
A month later, McCracken made comments to the woman about wanting to assault someone known to her.
Judge David Kent said “an argument understandably ensued”.
The court heard McCracken slashed an inflatable mattress before dragging his victim to the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens.
There, he smashed the woman’s phone to the ground before throwing her onto a concrete footpath where she hit her head.
While on the ground, McCracken held the woman down by the neck and restricted her breathing for two to three minutes.
The court heard McCracken said “I could kill you if I wanted”.
“I’m old school,” he said.
McCracken was sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
Judge Kent declared 305 days of custody as time served, and McCracken will be eligible for parole on April 9, 2025.
Read more here
Brock Andrew McDonald
Brock Andrew McDonald, 44, pleaded guilty to charges of deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm in relation to the random attack on October 21, 2023.
The court heard McDonald parked his vehicle in an area with no streetlights on Park St, Bundaberg, about 2.50am.
He approached the 18-year-old victim, who was not known to him, and wrapped a rope around her neck.
The court heard McDonald then forced the girl into the back of his white Toyota Corolla, pushing her face down.
He told her not to look at him and knelt over her before removing the rope from her neck.
The victim eventually managed to escape, grabbed her phone, hid in a bush, and called for help.
She was left with rope burns around her neck and abrasions to her right knee and thigh.
Judge David Kent said McDonald had a prior sexual assault charge in New South Wales for which he had been found guilty but not previously dealt with.
McDonald was sentenced to Two-and-a-half years’ jail with immediate parole, with 413 days considered time served, but was not convicted.
The Queensland Attorney-General, Deb Frecklington, confirmed she will appeal McDonald’s sentence earlier this week.
Read more here
Jason Andrew Nutt
A Bundaberg man will remain behind bars after pleading guilty over a terrifying ordeal in which he chased his ex-partner through an orchard late at night while threatening to kill her.
Jason Andrew Nutt pleaded guilty to multiple domestic violence offences including strangulation, common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm and three counts of contravening a domestic violence order aggravated offence.
Bundaberg District Court heard Nutt had a prolonged history of domestic violence including against three separate women.
Nutt appeared in prison greens in court on Thursday, February 29, facing a string of charges against two women – an ex-partner and a current partner.
Crown Prosecutor Anika Fritz told the court the 42-year-old had split from his former partner which had resulted in a protection order prohibiting him from seeing her when the pair met on March 24, 2023 to discuss shared property.
While on a night drive towards his house about 10pm, the man confronted the woman about who she had been spending time with and then, “did not take the required turn”.
“During the course of that argument he placed his arm around her throat and applied such pressure that she couldn’t breathe,” Ms Fritz said.
“He continued to drive down a dirt road, before he pulled over, she tried to get out of the car and he placed his arm around her throat again.”
Nutt drove further down the road before parking the car close to a tree, preventing the woman from opening the door to leave the car.
“She intended to show him her phone, and he hit her with an open hand to the right side of her mouth and backhanded her to the left side of the mouth,” Ms Fritz said.
“This caused instant pain.”
Ms Fritz told the court the assault did not stop there, as Nutt then punched her in the mouth, loosening her teeth to such a degree she would be later required to wear a brace.
The court heard the woman was able to escape the car through a back window, before fleeing through a surrounding macadamia orchard while calling police, as Nutt chased her in the car and then on foot.
“He gave chase and told her to get in the car or he would kill her,” Ms Fritz said.
Nutt was given a three-and-a-half-year head sentence for the strangulation charge, with concurrent sentences of two years’ imprisonment for assault occasioning bodily harm, 18 months for common assault and 18 months per contravention of domestic violence order.
Time spent in pre-sentence custody between September 24, 2023 and February 28, 2024 was declared time served and he will be eligible for parole on May 25, 2024.
Read more here
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