Rockhampton’s Tony Leonard Rice pleads guilty to possessing drugs

A drug user who admitted to being behind the wheel of a vehicle that hit and killed a Rockhampton man outside a pub has pleaded guilty to another crime.

Tony Leonard Rice outside Yeppoon courthouse for the Jim Murphy inquest, March 20, 2023.

A drug user who admitted to being behind the wheel of a vehicle that hit and killed a Rockhampton man outside a pub has pleaded guilty to another crime.

Tony Leonard Rice, who had his charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions in January 2023, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton this week to one count of possessing a schedule one drug in excess of two grams.

His sentencing has been adjourned for a date to be set later due to other outstanding charges that need to be moved to the Supreme Court.

Rice was remanded in custody.

Hit and run in 2023

In March of 2023, Rice made a bombshell admission while giving evidence on day two of an inquest held to uncover who killed Rockhampton man James “Jimmy” Sidney Murphy in a hit-and-run crash outside the Brunswick Hotel in 2019.

After being granted immunity by Coroner David O’Connell at the Yeppoon courthouse, Mr Rice admitted to driving a purple Ford on Archer St about 8.20pm on August 17.

He said there was an accident and admitted to driving without headlights on.

CCTV footage collected by police showed one vehicle travelling down Archer St towards West St with its headlights on, and another without headlights travelling in the opposite direction.

Coroner O’Connell surmised to the court that Jimmy had seen the first vehicle and suffered “night blindness” due to looking at the first vehicle’s lights, and therefore didn’t see the purple Ford if he had looked in that direction before moving to cross the road.

“I’m sorry,” Mr Rice told the inquest when asked what he wanted to say to Jimmy’s family.

“I know sorry doesn’t bring him back.”

The inquest had heard the vehicle’s owner had lent the car to someone else who told the owner they had sold it to Mr Rice for “a g and a half of meth” (1.5g of methamphetamines).

Originally published as Rockhampton’s Tony Leonard Rice pleads guilty to possessing drugs