Capricorn Coast man Zachary Palmer ‘turns life around’ after meth crimes
A stolen car crime has caught up with a Capricorn Coast man but a court has heard how the former “heavy” meth user has now turned his life around.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Capricorn Coast man has faced court for his involvement in a stolen car crime from almost three years ago.
Zachary Phillip Charles Palmer, 32, pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on November 24 to unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Police prosecutor Courtney Brown said that on January 8, 2020, a woman reported her 2015 Toyota Yaris stolen from a Lakes Creek (North Rockhampton) residence.
Ms Brown said the next day, about 2.45pm, police were called to attend Big W at Yeppoon in relation to people acting suspiciously.
By the time police got there, the people in question had left.
“A review of CCTV was conducted which resulted in police identifying (Palmer) getting into the victim’s stolen vehicle with two other (men),” Ms Brown said.
Police later found the victim’s vehicle burnt out.
Ms Brown said that on October 10, 2022, Palmer voluntarily attended Yeppoon Police Station in relation to this incident.
“He declined to be interviewed, however he did state to police that he was on the gear back then,” Ms Brown said.
“He stated he had nothing to do with the vehicle being burnt.
“He stated that he was clean now and had cleaned up his life.”
Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale heard that Palmer was dealt with in the Yeppoon court in February this year for drug matters but the prosecution accepted he had “cleaned up his act” since then.
“Besides that (February court appearance) you have to go back to 2018 to have any criminal history - five pages of history,” Ms Brown said.
Solicitor Krissy Cummins said Palmer was a passenger in the vehicle and he was not aware it had been stolen.
Ms Cummins said that was a time of Palmer’s life when he was “heavily into drugs” and methamphetamine was his drug of choice, but he had turned his life around and was no longer using drugs.
Before handing down penalty, Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale told Palmer he should be “congratulated for steering away from drugs”.
She fined him $300 and a conviction was recorded.
More Coverage
Originally published as Capricorn Coast man Zachary Palmer ‘turns life around’ after meth crimes
Meth man breaks into cop shop, Hungry Jack’s on drug binge
A Gladstone man has said ice was the cause of his bizarre break in at a Sunshine Coast police station and a fast food joint where he barricaded himself inside and damaged glass doors.
Two men rushed to hospital after Blackwater crash
A man in his 40s and a man in his 20s were taken to hospital after a traffic crash at Blackwater.
Elderly ‘bedridden’ man to face court on indecent assault charges
A man now aged in his 80s will be sentenced in Maryborough for crimes he committed in the 1970s, including five counts of indecent assault on females.
Dangerous dam jumpers risk getting ‘sucked into machinery’
People are jumping from the Callide Dam wall and the power station inlet tower using using rope swings, risking their safety and lives.
‘Oozing blood’: Tell-tale mark on drug driver’s arm a giveaway
This Central Queensland driver busted in the early hours of the morning was an easy catch for police in more ways than one.
‘Multiple punches’: Mum sentenced for Coles supermarket fight
The backstory to why a mum violently attacked another woman at a Coles supermarket has been revealed, along with her shocking act outside a nightclub just a week prior.