Matthew Grimstone pleads guilty to break and enter, receiving tainted property
A young dad, who narrowly escaped jail time at his last court appearance has returned on a raft of new charges stemming from suspect items hidden around his home.
Police & Courts
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A repeat offender and father of three has landed before the courts again after being caught with a number of illegal and stolen items stashed in his home.
Matthew Lawrence Grimstone, 26 of Gunalda, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court to nine charges stemming from a police search.
Police Prosecutor Lisa Manns said the August 16, 2021 search turned up a range of illegal items including an air rifle which had been stolen from a Pacific Pines home in 2019.
It was not alleged Grimstone stole the rifle himself.
Officers also found a pair of license plates hidden in the insulated roof lining of Grimstone’s home.
The plates had been stolen from a bench of a North Deep Creek home sometime between July 21, 2021 and August 8, 2021.
The court heard Grimstone’s fingerprints were found on an upstairs windowsill at the home where the plates had been taken.
Sgt Manns said Grimstone told police he had “never seen the plates before”.
Other items found in the search included 0.179g of methamphetamine inside a mobile phone boxed hidden behind a brick pillar, four glass pipes, and a quantity of marijuana in his underwear drawer.
Grimstone, a father of three with a background in civil construction, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing illegal drugs, one count of possessing things used in connection with drugs, entering a dwelling, and receiving tainted property.
He also pleaded guilty to three other charges of driving an unregistered vehicle, driving an uninsured vehicle, and failing to stop for police.
These were in relation to a December 30, 2021 incident in which police patrolling Glanmire came across a black Mitsubishi parked outside the Roadcraft driver training track.
When officer pulled up Grimstone started the car and sped away, eventually turning south on the Bruce Highway.
A search of the car’s registration the following day revealed its license plates had been cancelled.
Grimstone, who was previously given a wholly suspended 12 month jail sentence in September 2020 for supplying meth, was this time sentenced to eight months’ jail.
Three months of the sentence was declared as time already served by Magistrate Chris Callaghan, with the remainder of the sentence suspended for a period of 15 months.
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