Named: Wide Bay Burnett’s fraudsters or thieves who faced court revealed
From tradies and carers to white collar workers and business owners, there have been thousands of cases of fraud or theft reported across the region in the past two years. Here are 25 of those fraudsters or thieves named and shamed.
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Hard work may be the accepted way people pay their bills, but some choose to take a different route and obtain things by swindling others out of their money through fraud or theft.
The crimes continue to be a problem across the Wide Bay Burnett, with more than a thousand fraud offences reported across the region in the past two years.
Online police data revealed there had been 1098 fraud crimes in the Wide Bay Burnett in the 12 months from November 2023 to October 2024, a rate of about 91 per month.
This was down on the previous year, when 1231 fraud offences (102 each month on average) were reported across the region.
Despite the drop, the Wide Bay Burnett courts have still dealt with some serious breaches of the law by fraudsters.
Stealing offences have dipped too, with 5671 recorded between November 2023 and October 2024, a drop of almost 7 per cent from the 6094 offences reported between November 2022 and October 2023.
These are some of the people guilty of fraud or stealing offences to face the Gympie, Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, and South Burnett courts in the past 18 months.
Lutchmee Robinson
A Gympie woman swindled her workplace out of more than $1m over two-and-a-half years and used the money to fund expensive holidays and pay off her mortgage, a court has been told.
Lutchmee Robinson, 51, was supported by her daughter and other family members in the public gallery of the Maroochydore District Court in April 2024, as she faced the consequences of taking millions of dollars from her former employer between 2017 and 2019.
The court was told Robinson, who was employed by T & L Byrne Excavations and Byrne Civil Projects as a bookkeeper, had swindled the companies out of approximately $1.43m by overpaying herself, over inflating leave entitlements and having them cashed out, among other unauthorised transactions.
Robinson pleaded guilty to a sole charge of fraud – dishonestly obtain property by employee of at least $100,000.
Judge Glen Cash sentenced Robinson to seven years prison, with a parole eligibility date of February 3, 2026.
A conviction was recorded.
Read more here.
Alicia Jill McDonald
A Westpac personal banker was jailed for 12 months after defrauding elderly customers of more than $176,000 and using it to fund holidays, hair appointments and even a Harley Davidson motorbike.
In October 2023, Gympie District Court heard Alicia Jill McDonald, 35, swiped the money from four customers over a 14-month period from March 2018 to May 2019.
In the worst instance, McDonald stole $152,114.54 from an elderly retiree who had sold their home and travelled to Germany.
The court heard McDonald, a mother-of-three including a newborn, took the money in 120 transactions, at one point increasing the transaction limit on his account from $1000 to $2000 to take the money.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.
Judge Jarro sentenced her to four-and-a-half years’ jail, to be suspended for five years after she served 12 months.
While she offered to pay restitution to Westpac, Judge Jarro said she was not in a financial position to be able to do so.
Read more here.
Scott Angus Loveday
A former bus driver was involved in an “intricate operation” where Spotlight stores across the Wide Bay were defrauded of thousands through the use of doctored click-and-collect receipts.
Scott Angus Loveday pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court in January, 2024 to charges including fraudulently using false records and stealing.
Police prosecutor Carl Spargo told the court Loveday and two associates targeted Spotlight stores in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay with the scam throughout May 2023.
The group stole items from the stores, then doctored click and collect receipts to include the details and cost of the stolen items and went back to the stores to claim a refund.
While the total amount of stock stolen from the stores was unknown, the group was able to raise at least $8,291 in fraudulent refunds through the scam.
Loveday was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay $1,194 in restitution to Spotlight and $500 to Coles.
He was also fined $200 for failing to appear and convicted of three counts of fraudulently using any record which is false, two counts of fraud – dishonestly gaining benefit/advantage, and one count each of failing to appear in accordance with undertaking, attempted fraud – dishonestly gain benefit/advantage and stealing.
Read more here.
Rebecca Ann Munro
A woman defrauded a would-be buyer through Facebook Marketplace and brazenly stole nearly $2000 of goods from Bunnings she intended to sell on the same platform.
Rebecca Ann Munro pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court in September, 2023 to two charges of stealing and one of fraud.
Police prosecutor Carl Spargo told the court Munro, 39, had advertised a television for sale on Facebook Marketplace in November 2021, and, after the victim made contact to express interest in buying it, arrangements were made for her to transfer the funds to Munro’s account before collecting the item at Hinkler Central.
Munro was sentenced to one month imprisonment wholly suspended for three months, with 80 hours of community service to be completed in the next 12 months.
Munro was ordered to pay $150 as restitution to the victim defrauded through the sale of the television and $1,995 restitution to Bunnings.
Read more here.
Locklen Alexander Sheehy
A serial thief’s crime spree buying scratchies and alcohol through 21 fraudulent paywave transactions in 20 minutes came to an end when police found him sitting on top of a cabinet in a locked garage.
Appearing from custody, Locklen Alexander Sheehy, 21, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court in December, 2023 to a string of charges including 21 counts of fraud and five counts of break-and-enter for a two-week crime spree in homes and businesses around Bundaberg.
The court heard Sheehy, described by police prosecutor Sgt Carl Spargo as a “recidivist offender”, had spent half his adult life in custody for the similar offending.
Magistrate John McInnes gave Sheehy a head sentence of 18 months imprisonment, with a parole release date of February 12, 2024.
Sheehy was convicted of 21 counts of fraud – dishonest application of property of another, two counts of enter premises and commit indictable offence by break, two counts of enter dwelling and commit and one count each of attempted fraud – dishonest application of property of another, enter premises with intent, obstruct police officer and stealing.
Read more here.
Josephine Leigh Raines
A young Bundaberg mother narrowly avoided jail after causing $24,000 in damage and theft to a Childers dental clinic and then trying to claim items stolen from the business had been bought on eBay.
Josephine Leigh Raines, 27, faced the region’s District Court in September after pleading guilty to charges of break-and-enter and stealing, fraud, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Published court documents revealed the charges were laid in the wake of Raines offending in Childers which started across the 2022 Anzac Day long weekend.
Raines committed the break-in with the help of two co-offenders.
The court was told the trio broke into the property and caused $24,000 in theft and damage.
Judge John Allen told the court Raines then engaged in a “persistent course of deliberate dishonesty” by first submitting a false statutory declaration claiming she had purchased the items from eBay “years earlier”, and then using the stolen bank details to transfer $4400 in her own account, before sending it on to one in a co-offender’s name.
Judge Allen sentenced Raines to two years’ jail with immediate release on parole, saying that if were not for her daughter “you would be going to jail today”.
Read more here.
Antonio Doctor Houston
A “breach of trust” landed a 33-year-old hospital worker in court after he defrauded a family friend out of more than $9000 to buy Pokemon cards, Bundaberg Magistrates Court heard.
Antonio Doctor Houston pleaded guilty in August, 2023 to one count of fraud and one of attempted fraud.
The court heard Houston had arranged to receive some funds as a gift from his aunt’s partner to buy a car in late 2022.
Instead, using access Houston had gained to the man’s bank accounts, he made several purchases for Pokemon cards, among other things, amounting to $9675.40.
Houston was sentenced to two years in jail, wholly suspended for the fraud charge and a conviction was recorded.
He was further convicted but not further punished for attempted fraud.
Restitution was sought for $9675.40, with a seven-day request for $1000 and the remaining amount sent to SPER.
Read more here.
Bronson John Norton
A fraudster and thief’s month-long crime spree across the Fraser Coast and parts of Bundaberg was laid bare as he was sentenced to three years behind bars.
Bronson John Norton pleaded guilty to more than 30 offences, including multiple counts of stealing, receiving tainted property and fraud, as well as entering a premises and committing an indictable offence, wilful damage, possessing dangerous drugs and unlawful use of a motor vehicle when he faced Hervey Bay District Court in June, 2024.
The spree began on September 4, 2023, when Norton stole a 12-piece tool set and combination spanner worth $354 from the Pialba Bunnings about 10.20am.
He placed the items in a bag, according to court documents, and when staff asked to see his bag, he ignored them and walked away.
Norton was later identified from CCTV footage.
On September 12, police carrying out checks on their stolen property database saw Norton had pawned a large number of stolen items, including power tools and jewellery, at Hervey Bay Cash Converters.
The items included a post digger, drill, chainsaw, leaf blower, two diamond rings, a gold pendant, a gold necklace and a silver pendant.
Norton had received $630 for the items, according to the court documents.
Norton was given a head sentence of three years in prison.
A parole release date was set for November 18, 2024.
Read more here.
Karma Melissa Donald
A “benevolent” endeavour to buy an old private hospital and convert it into a community hub turned sour when the trusted president of a Maryborough kindergarten committee used $50,000 provided by the organisation for her own purposes.
Karma Melissa Donald, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud when she faced Hervey Bay District Court in June, 2023.
Crown prosecutor Katrina Overell said Donald had been the president of the committee of Carramar Community Kindergarten and Pre-School.
Donald had discussed the possibility of expanding the kindergarten by moving to another location, Ms Overell said.
In emails sent to the ANZ bank, Donald said she had raised $300,000 for the deposit, but was told she needed about $550,000.
When the sale of the hospital fell through, she did not return any of the funds, Ms Overell said.
Instead, she withdrew $20,000 from those funds and paid herself $10,000 into her deceased mother’s bank account, then made a cheque out for a second person for the remaining funds and gave it to her “as a gift”, Ms Overell said.
Read more here.
Kimberley Alice Smith
A prominent Queensland “gem hunter” who specialises in sourcing and mining gems was sentenced to prison after leaving a trail of destruction from New South Wales to Queensland, defrauding multiple businesses of about $86,000.
Kimberley Alice Smith, 37, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of stealing property exceeding $5000, five counts of fraud, three counts of fraudulently producing or using a false record, two counts of dishonestly obtaining property, and one count of fraud valued between $30,000 and $100,000.
The mother-of-four from Murgon, who is listed as a consultant and director of EMM & Southern Cross Dreaming Curlew Mine Pty Ltd, an Australian Indigenous company specialising in Australian crystals, rocks, gems, and minerals, was sentenced at the Kingaroy District Court in August, 2024.
Judge Jennifer Rosengren sentenced Smith to a term of imprisonment, describing her offending as “typical of a fraudster” but “not sophisticated,” after she defrauded about eight businesses in the Wide Bay and Brisbane.
Smith was given a head sentence of two years and six months, with four months to be served.
She was ordered to pay $30,000 to Tiaro Machinery Centre, which her barrister indicated would be paid the next day.
She was also ordered to pay an outstanding amount of $8732.90 to Clark Equipment Rental Pty Ltd.
Smith had already paid the remaining balance while awaiting sentencing.
Her parole release date is set for December 28, 2024.
Read more here.
Mark Ronald Warren
A young Kingaroy man took more than $11,000 from his father’s bank account to fund his drug addiction, a court has heard.
Mark Ronald Warren, 27, pleaded guilty at Nanango Magistrates Court in December, 2023, to 40 counts of fraud, committed between January and March, 2021 where he transferred money from his father’s bank account into his own.
“The victim did not give the defendant any permission to make those transactions,” the prosecutor said.
“He had access to that account for a number of years, he didn’t dip into that account for some years until he found himself in some financial difficulty,” his solicitor said.
Warren initially reached out to his dad for financial support but was declined. It was after that he began transferring money from his father’s account into his own.
“He was … heavily into methamphetamine abuse, he was on a downward spiral,” the solicitor said.
“He used the money to support that habit in that very short period of time … he regrets that, he looks back with shame.”
Warren also pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs and possessing utensils or pipes.
Magistrate Andrew Sinclair ordered Warren to pay restitution of $11,196 and placed him on 12 months’ probation.
Read more here.
Paul Kevin Richard Shillingsworth
After defrauding 15 people of more than $72,000, a Maryborough man assaulted a woman and used a child as a “human shield” when police tried to arrest him.
Paul Kevin Richard Shillingsworth, 32, pleaded guilty in September 2023 to a number of charges, including fraud and assault occasioning bodily harm, when he faced Maryborough District Court.
The court heard Shillingsworth, a former star rugby league player in the BRL, had set up ads on online marketplace Gumtree offering various items for sale.
But while deposits were paid, the promised items were never delivered, the court was told.
Shillingsworth was given a head sentence of four-and-a-half years in prison, with a parole eligibility date set for November 29, 2023.
The time he had spent in presentence custody was declared as time served.
Read more here.
Tiffany Anne Bailey
A pregnant woman who stole $5000 from her father’s safe was addicted to online gambling at the time, a court has heard.
Tiffany Anne Bailey, 32, pleaded guilty to stealing when she faced Hervey Bay Magistrates Court in April, 2024.
She was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay $5000 restitution.
The court heard Bailey had been living at the home attached to her father’s tyre repair business in St George when the offending happened.
At times, Bailey’s father would take cash from the business to the home and place it in a locked safe in a cupboard in the kitchen.
Three people had the combination – the victim, his wife and Bailey, the court was told.
Bailey had been cooperative and made admissions to police and had written a letter of apology to her father, from whom she was now estranged.
The court heard it wasn’t sophisticated offending and it was led by her addiction.
Magistrate Trinity McGarvie ordered the restitution and sentenced Bailey to three months in prison, wholly suspended for four months.
Read more here.
Darlene Elizabeth Shanks
A Hervey Bay woman who defrauded $130,000 from a disabled veteran while she was his carer told him she didn’t care and that he was a “greedy man” when her offence was finally exposed.
Darlene Elizabeth Shanks, 52, of Urraween, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to one charge of fraud of a value of $100,000 of which was also a domestic violence offence in Hervey Bay District.
After her mother died in early 2019, Shanks became the sole carer of the victim, her mum’s husband of 38 years and Shanks’ stepfather.
Shortly after becoming carer for which she was paid $848 from Centrelink, she moved in with the victim along with two of her nine children.
In addition to the Centrelink money, the victim gave Shanks $200 every fortnight.
To further accommodate them, the victim sold his property in Point Vernon to move into a bigger house with Shanks and her family, the court was told.
As his carer, Shanks had exclusive access to his bank accounts, including his online accounts which he did not know how to operate.
As well as his pension the court heard the victim received $100,000 compensation from the Australian Defence Force fund.
With control of his bank accounts and credit cards over two-and-half-years, she emptied the victims’ bank accounts in 351 fraudulent transactions.
Judge Andreatidis sentenced Shanks to five years’ imprisonment, of which she must serve at least 18 months before she is eligible for parole.
Read more here.
James Denning
A Bundaberg concreter will remain behind bars until mid-2025 after a crime spree where he tried to “emotionally reassure” a woman while robbing her phone and car at knifepoint.
James Denning, 27, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to 21 charges over the offending which spanned across the Gympie, Fraser Coast and Bundaberg regions in August and September, 2023.
Gympie District Court heard Denning had first been found by police collapsed beside a Brisbane road while affected by drugs.
Attending officers found him in possession of items stolen in a recent burglary in the area, 41g of marijuana, four shotgun cartridges and three folding knives.
Denning then stole several items in September, including food, tobacco, and sports shoes from Gympie shops, before swiping a Mitsubishi from a shopping centre car park in the city.
The court heard the 27-year-old and his unidentified female co-offender drove around in the stolen car until September 18, 2023.
Denning and his co-offender abandoned the car at Redbridge, broke into a nearby isolated rural home and threatened the woman living there with a knife in an attempt to steal her car.
Judge Glen Cash accepted Denning’s pleas to the charges, which included burglary by break-and-enter while armed and in company, armed robbery, five counts of stealing, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, four counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two counts of possessing ammunition, receiving tainted property, possessing a knife, attempted fraud, possessing a drug pipe, failing to dispose of a syringe, and unlawful possession of a weapon.
He sentenced the 27-year-old to five years’ jail.
Denning will be eligible for parole from May 24, 2025.
Read more here.
Jaydon Lee George
A 22-year-old man who carjacked a teenage girl while armed with a knife was sentenced to jail for the 2022 crime.
Jaydon Lee George, from Caloundra, pleaded guilty in November 2023 in the Gympie District Court to armed robbery over the theft 10 days before Christmas 2022, while accompanied by two 17-year-olds.
The court heard George and the youths approached the 19-year-old victim about 9.16pm while she was sitting in her Hyundai hatchback at the Gympie Skate Park on River Road on December 15, 2022.
She had borrowed the car from her mother, and was talking with friends when the trio approached.
The court was told George leaned through the driver’s side and grabbed her car keys.
As he did so, he pulled his shirt up to reveal a “large and quite threatening” knife tucked in the waistband.
George was sentenced to three years’ jail, with a parole release date of December 16, 2023.
Read more here.
Neville James Wanstall
A Gympie man will stay in jail until Christmas after a year-long crime spree including the “brazen” theft of more than $8000 of copper wire from an electrical shop.
Neville James Wanstall’s string of 25 offences started on January 17, 2023 when he stole insulated wire from an unnamed business using a vehicle.
His offending then expanded to encompass charges of wilful damage, possessing dangerous drugs, driving without a licence as a repeat offender, breaching bail, possessing drug utensils, stealing and trespassing.
He pleaded guilty to the charges in November 2024.
On one occasion the 38-year-old broke into the Victory Heights Hotel through the back window, the court heard.
He stole about $100 from the bar and poker machine area.
The court was told he was identified by his fingerprints and caught on CCTV.
Magistrate Bevan Hughes told Wanstall his history of offending, which was primarily drug-related, had now crept into property offences.
He ordered Wanstall pay Haymans Electrical $8544.69 in restitution and sentenced him to 12 months’ jail.
The sentence was wholly suspended for two years, and Wanstall will be released on parole on December 9, 2024.
Read more here.
Joshua Paul Spicer-Campbell
A brick worker and welder faced court over an extraordinary crime spree in which he was caught driving multiple stolen cars and stealing thousands of dollars of clothes, fuel, and smokes.
Joshua Paul Spicer-Campbell faced Gympie District Court in October 2023 over the string of crimes carried out from August to December 2022.
The court heard the 24-year-old’s long list of offences included driving nine stolen cars, stealing more than $5300 of petrol, using stolen credit cards to buy about $1200 of cigarettes, and stealing $1150 worth of shirts from a Myer Department store.
On one occasion he stole a jacket, leaf blower, hedge trimmer, and battery charger from the personal area of a service station, and he entered multiple people’s homes, stole their keys and drove off with their cars.
One car had $18,000 worth of tools in the back.
Another had a box trailer with $25,000 of machinery.
Judge Nathan Jarro sentenced Spicer-Campbell to three years’ jail, with an immediate parole release date owing to about 10 months already spent in custody on remand.
Judge Jarro stripped Spicer-Campbell of his licence for three years, and issued a fine of 50 penalty units (about $6000) for evading the police.
Read more here.
Tabitha Joyce Pershouse
A young Bundaberg mother remained behind bars after taking part in a crime spree across the region.
Tabitha Joyce Pershouse, 30, pleaded guilty at Bundaberg Magistrates Court in February 2024 to 22 charges including five counts of stealing, receiving tainted property and enter and commit indictable offence.
The court was told the mother had been a “substantial participant” in a crime “spree” between May 9 and late July last year, where she made several fuel drive-offs and received a stolen boat and trailer which was filmed on CCTV.
Prosecutor Leon Casey provided little detail about the charge which would become the head sentence for Pershouse before the court, in which she entered a dwelling and committed an indictable offence.
Pershouse was given a head sentence of 24 months for enter and commit indictable offence charge, with further concurrent charges for the remaining offences.
Convictions were recorded and parole release date was set for February 21, 2024 with 199 days in pre-sentence custody declared time served.
Read more here.
David Smith
An amputee who smashed his way into a pawnbrokers’ shop and stole more than $39,000 worth of items had to be placed in protective custody after he became a target during his time in prison, a court has heard.
David Smith, 43, pleaded guilty in June 2024 at Hervey Bay District Court to one count of break and enter premises with stealing.
In addition to prison time, Smith, who was born in Scotland, was also facing the prospect of deportation as result of his offending, the court heard.
He had a previous criminal history with drug and stealing offences.
The pawnbroker break-in happened on December 18, 2023, when Smith and an alleged co-offender went to Fraser Coast Quick Cash and used a grinder to break the glass, smashing their way inside the store and then into the glass cabinets inside, stealing about $39,500 worth of jewellery.
Smith was “easily recognisable”, the court heard, and an arrest warrant was issued.
Judge Deborah Richards sentenced Smith to two-and-a-half years in prison with immediate release on parole, with the 120 days he’d spent in presentence custody declared as time served.
Read more here.
Daniel Matthew McFarland
A court heard of the great lengths a man went to after stealing a box-trailer from a Murgon business and the extensive police investigation it took to retrieve it.
Daniel Matthew McFarland, 36, pleaded guilty in Murgon Magistrates Court in March, 2024 to stealing a vehicle and wilful damage.
Police prosecutor Lisa Manns said another man had hired a trailer from a Murgon business on June 5, 2023 and when it was overdue to be returned, asked his friend, McFarland, if he could drop the trailer back for him.
“The victim then contacted the defendant on the 5th of July, 2023, was told that the defendant would be returning the trailer on the 6th of August 2023,” Sergeant Manns said.
McFarland rang the victim the day before he was due to return it and said the trailer had been stolen after it got a flat tire and was left on the side of the road.
Sgt Manns said McFarland told the victim he had reported it to police.
“The victim tracked the GPS (tracker) which had been placed on the trailer and found it had been removed from the trailer on the same date the defendant had reported to him it had been stolen,” Sgt Manns said.
Police checked the trailer registration and found no report had been made by McFarland.
Because McFarland had already been sentenced at Brisbane Magistrates Court on January 22, 2024 for separate offences he wasn’t further punished but was ordered to pay $1299 in restitution and convictions were recorded.
Read more here.
Shane Robert Davis
Telling his elderly victim he needed $80 to buy a pump for the man’s dishwater, a car thief who had taken a cocktail of drugs drove off in the man’s vehicle and never brought it back.
Shane Robert Davis pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, one count of the unlawful use of a motor vehicle and one count of possessing tainted property when he appeared before Kingaroy Magistrates Court in November, 2023.
After 30 years of committing crimes, landing Davis in and out of prison, the court was told he was now trying to “rebuild his life”.
The latest charges occurred in 2019 when Davis turned up to his victim’s house, an elderly man in Nanango, who mistakenly thought Davis was there to fix his broken dishwasher.
Davis was an associate of the victim’s late son. It was not clear why Davis showed up to the victim’s house that day, but Davis attended to the dishwasher before asking if he could stay the night, indicating he had nowhere to sleep, the court heard.
The victim agreed and let him stay.
The next morning around 10am, Davis told the man the dishwasher needed a new pump.
“The defendant … requested $80 for the pump and use of his car which was a 2002 Holden Rodeo,” the prosecution said.
The victim agreed and gave Davis the keys to his car.
Davis then drove off in the car and never returned.
Two weeks after the theft, police saw the stolen car and stopped it.
There were three people in the car who told police they had purchased the car from Davis for $600.
Davis was supported by family members who had driven him from Wynnum, where he currently resides.
“My client has stated again he is remorseful for his actions and has changed his life dramatically since that time,” the defence said.
The magistrate sentenced Davis to six months’ imprisonment, to be released on parole immediately.
Read more here.
Samantha Lee Egan
A move to Amamoor Creek, 25km outside Gympie, was intended to be a “tranquil” change for Samantha Lee Egan and her dog Onie.
Instead it became a horror show after the 30-year-old stole two of her neighbour’s vehicles and then shockingly struck her pet with a hammer and stabbed it to death in a “drug psychosis”.
The shocking details of Egan’s crimes was revealed in Gympie Magistrates Court in November, 2024, where the Amamoor Creek woman pleaded guilty to injuring an animal, two counts of stealing a vehicle, and obstructing police.
Police prosecutor Allison Johnston said Egan’s wild behaviour on June 29, 2024, started when she stole a 77-year-old woman’s car and drove it onto a jetty.
The jetty, not built to withstand the weight of the vehicle, collapsed and brought the car crashing down onto its concrete foundations.
Egan then stole the woman’s tractor, which was eventually returned undamaged.
The court heard the cost of repairing the jetty was more than $21,000.
Egan then killed her dog after it “became aggressive” towards her.
“It was hit over the head with a hammer and then stabbed to death,” Sgt Johnston said, adding Egan referred in the facts to “sacrificing it”.
Magistrate Bevan Hughes offered Egan probation, but when the 30-year-old rejected it as an option saying she planned on moving back to New South Wales, he instead sentenced her to six months’ jail with the term wholly suspended.
He ordered Egan pay $5000 in restitution, noting any amount higher was unlikely to be recovered as the 30-year-old was unemployed and on a disability support pension.
Convictions were recorded.
Read more here.
Scott William Trask
A 46-year-old concreter’s attempt to steal 1000L of diesel from a Gympie Bypass construction site before leading the police dog squad on a dangerous chase came to a sharp end.
Mooloo man Scott William Trask faced Gympie Magistrates Court by videolink in September, 2024, nine months’ after he and an unnamed co-accused attempted the fuel heist on December 10, 2023.
The court heard Trask, who was on parole at the time, broke into the site in the company of the other man by cutting through barbed wire surrounding the bypass.
They then proceeded to siphon the diesel into two 1000L IBC trailers using hoses.
Police prosecutor Alison Johnstone told the court officers arriving at the scene as the heist was unfolding were then led on a chase by the pair, who fled when police turned their flashing lights on.
Magistrate Bevan Hughes sentenced Trask to 15 months’ jail, with his mother saying “oh f--k” as the punishment was handed down.
The sentence was wholly suspended for two years, and Mr Hughes did not declare the pre-sentence custody as doing so would lead to Trask receiving an “excessive” punishment.
Read more here.
Lyle Mark McFaul
A 36-year-old labourer with a rapidly growing criminal record was jailed after trying to swipe more than $1500 worth of groceries from Gympie’s supermarkets.
Gympie Magistrates Court heard in August, 2023, Lyle Mark McFaul committed his latest string of offences in the early months of the year.
The Chatsworth man’s most serious crimes were the attempts to steal groceries from two of Gympie’s largest supermarkets.
The court heard on May 30, 2023, McFaul entered the city’s Coles store at Goldfields Plaza about midday and walked around filling a shopping trolley with $1377.15 worth of groceries.
Police prosecutor Mel Campbell said he then “sprinted from the store with the trolley, narrowly missing colliding with senior citizens”.
Security chased him through the carpark and were able to recover the trolley.
The attempted theft came three months after he stole about $500 worth of meat from Woolworths at Gympie Central Shopping Centre.
Sgt Campbell said McFaul was again seen sprinting from the store through the entry gates.
The meat was never found.
On a third occasion he entered another person’s car, which was parked unlocked, and stole a wallet with $600 cash and an ANZ bank card.
The card was subsequently used by McFaul, who was captured on CCTV.
He sentenced McFaul to 18 months’ jail, noting 87 days had already been served in pre-sentence custody.
Magistrate Bevan Hughes gave McFaul a parole release date of October 3, 2023, with the remainder of the sentence to be suspended for a year.
McFaul was also ordered to pay $700 restitution to SPER for damage he did to a door frame while trying to break into a house on January 21, 2023.
Read more here.
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