NAMED: 13 of South Burnett’s fraudsters and thieves
A list of the region’s thieves and fraudsters named and shamed.
South Burnett
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Pregnant woman stole debit cards to buy items for baby
An expectant mother bought items for her baby with debit cards stolen from a support worker.
Amber Mabb stayed seated in Murgon Magistrates Court as the charges were read out on May 21 last year.
She pleaded guilty to one count of stealing and one charge of fraud from March 20 to 26 2019.
Police prosecutor Barry Stevens said the 21-year-old woman had been with her mother's support worker on March 20.
"The defendant removed the victim's bank card which was located in her bag," he said.
"The defendant returned the victim's purse to the handbag."
She then used the card 10 times in Murgon over the next few days for purchases that totalled $298.32.
Among the several fraudulent transactions, Mabb made a $20.98 purchase at a dollars and cents discount store on March 22 and made a purchase at Domino's Pizza.
She visited Murgon Target twice and two other stores to make purchases with the stolen card.
"It's disappointing that she stole from a support worker," Sgt Stevens said.
The defence lawyer it was a spur of the moment decision to take the card and then use it to buy some things.
Magistrate Louisa Pink said the young woman had bought stuff for her baby.
"You took someone's bank card, you know that it's not legal," she said.
Mabb was released on a good behaviour bond of $500 for six months.
No convictions were recorded.
Bowls Club handbag snatcher sentenced to four years in jail
I saiah Ted Joseph Colonel faced District Court on a string of more than 30 offences, including five counts of entering dwellings and committing indictable offences, four charges of stealing as well as robbery and fraud.
The court heard Colonel and a group of associates went on an drug-induced crime spree last year from September 13-29, inflicting damages and danger across seven dwellings within the South Burnett and beyond.
It is believed Colonel was under the influence of methamphetamine when he committed a number of the 35 offences.
On September 14, 2019 the young Cherbourg man robbed the female victim at the entrance of Kingaroy Bowls Club, taking her handbag containing her mobile phone, keys and wallet, which had some cash and multiple bank cards inside it.
The court heard the young man proceeded to use one of the victim's bank cards to purchase petrol, soft drink and cigarettes at a Kingaroy service station, hence the count of fraud.
Judge Long sentenced Colonel to a number of lengthy prison sentences for the majority of his offences and ordered he serve all of his sentences concurrently.
The young man is now facing a four-year imprisonment, which will begin at the end of his current imprisonment sentence, of which he still has eight months to serve.
Colonel was disqualified from holding a driver's licence for two years from the court hearing and his new parole date was set to February 2, 2021.
BAD HAIR DAY: Woman sentenced for stealing $35k from hairdresser
The Murgon Magistrates court heard how a woman stole a significant amount of money from a small town hairdresser by posing as a business consultant over a three-year period, while she steadily drained the business' funds.
Felicity Ann Evans appeared in court on February 26 and pleaded guilty to one count of stealing.
The court heard how the now 48-year-old first became involved with Gina Cherie Oberle, a Murgon-based hairdresser and small business owner by offering to help her new business get started by trading her consultancy skills for free haircuts.
Evans began stealing from Ms Oberle's business bank account on March 4, 2013 through to January 19, 2016.
In June 2015 Ms Oberle became aware there was no money in her business accounts and went to her accountants who showed her receipts for consultancy and marketing, but she had never received an invoice from Evans for her services.
It wasn't until after a police investigation was established Ms Oberle discovered Evans had stolen $35,000 from her Westpac business accounts.
Ms Pink sentenced Evans to two years imprisonment, wholly suspended with a clear warning if she reoffended or committed another offence punishable by imprisonment in the next two years she would be facing time behind bars.
She also ordered Evans to make full restitution and pay the full amount of $35,000 back to Ms Oberle stating a quote from a similar case.
Woman asks shopkeeper to look after stolen goods
A 44-year-old woman fronted the Kingaroy Magistrates Court after she asked a shop attendant to look after her stolen goods.
On December 3, 2019, Lorraine Rachel Davidson was shopping at Wayne's World, Kingaroy.
The court heard she bought a number of items and later came back and asked a shop attendant to take care of her bags while she did some more shopping.
"While the attendant was placing the bags behind the counter, they noticed there was a number of items in there that had not been paid for that belonged to the shop," police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi said.
"There were some cleaning liquids, some coffee, air fresheners and Christmas decorations."
Defence lawyer Bonnie Djordjevic said her client's last dishonesty offence was a charge of stealing in 2013.
Davidson was fined $150, and the conviction was recorded.
Couple's sneaky Bunnings scam involving child exposed
A scam to steal goods from Kingaroy Bunnings has been exposed after vigilant staff realised what the sneaky couple were up to.
With a child in tow, Sean Mark Parry and Renata Densworth attended Kingaroy Bunnings on June 29.
Parry purchased two whipper snippers valued at $518, exited the store and handed the receipt to a child.
The child returned into the shop and handed the receipt to Densworth, who then took two more whipper snippers and used that receipt as proof of purchase to exit the store with the stolen items.
Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi said they repeated the procedure the following day with a $299 chainsaw.
"While neither of them have any history, to use a child and to have planned this heightens the offence," he said.
Defence lawyer Tom Carr said Densworth comes from Victoria and was visiting Parry during the school holidays.
"They were shopping at Bunnings and Mr Parry had the idea of buying an item, using the receipt as proof of purchase and taking another item," he said.
"He convinced Miss Densworth to take part and since it was successful, they tried it again on the second day."
Bunnings staff became suspicious of the couple and police were called to the store.
Mr Carr said Parry, 39, and Densworth, 36, were courteous and cooperative with the police and the Bunnings employees who caught them.
The stolen items were returned intact.
Magistrate Louisa Pink lauded Parry for taking responsibility.
"It seems Miss Densworth has foolishly allowed herself to be drawn into it," she said.
"But involving a child in criminal activity is disgraceful conduct."
Parry was fined $900 and Densworth was fined $300 for two counts of stealing each.
The convictions were not recorded.
Unpaid escort jailed after stealing $25K and destroying car
A Murgon escort was jailed in 2018 after stealing three cars and $25,000 worth of goods from a client who failed to pay her.
Shari Emily Renee Williams, 27, faced Murgon Magistrates Court back in October 2018 for three counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, one count of stealing, one count of possessing dangerous drugs, and one count of driving without a licence as a repeat offender.
Police prosecutor Barry Stevens said the client picked up Williams from Murgon and took her to an address north of Blackbutt.
"The victim and the defendant went into a shed on the property for some time," Sgt Stevens said.
"At about 11pm, the victim left the defendant inside the shed and went to the dwelling to go to sleep.
"She then contacted her co-offender to come and pick her up."
Sgt Stevens said the co-offender and another male arrived at the property a short time later.
"She indicated to the co-offender to steal items from the property.
"They then stole $25,000 worth of electrical items, a welder and other car products," Sgt Stevens said.
"They piled it into a van and the three of them stole three cars."
Sgt Stevens said one of the cars was found crashed in Blackbutt and alight.
"When arrested, Williams was found to be in possession of a small amount of amphetamines. She told police she didn't have a way of getting home and called the co-offender.
"She told them to take some stuff but she didn't think they'd take as much as they did, and she didn't know they were going to take the other two cars," Sgt Stevens said.
Magistrate Louisa Pink said Williams' offending was very serious.
"Mr Werner (Williams' defence lawyer) says you left, but you can't just wash your hands of this responsibility by saying, 'They took more than I wanted them to and so I went away', essentially leaving them to their own devices."
Magistrate Pink said she took into account that the substantial amount of stolen goods were recovered, and that Williams assisted in the process.
"But what I'm a bit perplexed about is that you phoned these people to come and steal from the person whose property you were at because he hadn't paid you.
"In addition to them presumably arriving in a car, three vehicles were also stolen, you drove one of those vehicles and one of them was found subsequently burned, and you were unlicensed at the time," Magistrate Pink said.
"It sounds like you certainly found yourself in a difficult position, being on a rural property and that's no doubt one of the hazards of your occupation.
"These offences were particularly serious in light of the fact that you're 27, but you have a seven-page criminal history.
"The important factors are that on the one hand you've committed serious offences and you have a serious criminal history, but you're still relatively young.
"You co-operated with police, you identified your co-accused, you assisted police, the goods were returned, and you voluntarily disclosed the drugs," Magistrate Pink said.
For the three charges of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, Williams was convicted and sentenced to prison for 12 months.
For the charge of stealing, Williams was convicted and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
For the charge of unlicensed driving as a repeat offender, Williams was convicted and sentences to three months' imprisonment, and prohibited from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for six months.
For the possession of amphetamine, which Magistrate Pink said was a small amount that was voluntarily disclosed, she was convicted and not further charged.
"Taking into your account your level of co-operation in this matter, I fix your parole eligibility date after two months, on December 28, 2018, with the six days of pre-sentence custody declared."
Kingaroy magistrate: 'Last chance before you're deported'
A Kingaroy man who stole thousands of dollars worth of tools and bike equipment has narrowly avoided being deported.
On March 30 last year Dailin Warren Liedemann broke into a shed at Jason Scott's Kingaroy property in the middle of the night.
He used a tool to force the shed door open and stole a $6000 custom mountain bike, push bike tools, a Milwaukee tool bag that had various tools and bike parts in it, a heavy duty battery pack, spare tyre tubes, bike lights, a CamelBak, a TomTom watch, bike pumps, bike rims, a remote control car and an MP3 player.
At 3pm the next afternoon, Liedemann showed up at Jason Eggleton's front door and told him he'd been inside Mr Eggleton's house.
Mr Eggleton said a laptop bag was missing, and a Milwaukee tool bag was left beside his house.
On April 1 police went to Liedemann's home and just minutes before their arrival, other people had gone to the house and taken the bike and returned it to Mr Scott.
Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi said the bike had a flat back tyre and rust on it from being left in the rain.
"The only thing returned to Mr Scott was the Milwaukee tool bag with the tools and battery pack, and the bike."
Sgt Gangemi told the court that if a prison sentence was imposed on Liedemann, who is originally from Queenstown, the father faced the possibility of being deported back to New Zealand by Border Force.
Defence lawyer Chris Campbell said his client's offending was a result of his methamphetamine use.
"He's been using that drug for two years, since he separated from his wife of 11 years," he said.
Liedemann pleaded guilty to four charges including entering a dwelling by break and committing an indictable offence, entering a dwelling and committing an indictable offence, breaching bail, and for possessing a glass pipe and electric scales used in connection with smoking a dangerous drug.
He received 15 months' probation and convictions were recorded.
SCOOPED UP: Police catch ice cream truck thief after crash
A Cherbourg man's attempt to beat the heat landed him in police custody late last year after he stole a truck laden with ice cream.
Police allege Dempsey Jacobs, 28, stole a Streets Ice Cream truck from a Puma service station in Maryborough at 6.45am on Monday, December 20.
Jacobs then allegedly drove the truck to Cherbourg but lost control of the vehicle on Barambah Ave near a store at about 8.15am.
Police arrested and charged the man with stealing a vehicle, obstructing police, breaching bail, unlicensed driving and common nuisance.
His matter was mentioned in Kingaroy Magistrates Court that afternoon but the matter was adjourned to Murgon Magistrates Court to Tuesday.
He spent the night in custody at the Murgon watch house.
Early reports suggest most of the ice cream survived the crash and was later rescued by another Streets truck.
Avo go at this: Fruit fraudster does time
A man who received more than $3000 worth of stolen avocados from a Blackbutt farm has been ordered to complete community service.
Steve Moore was sentenced in Kingaroy Magistrates Court on March 15 for one count of receiving tainted property and three counts of fraud.
The 41-year-old Blackbutt man was charged with receiving 5450 stolen avocados from the farm, which adds up to a commercial value of about $3270.
The court heard the defendant previously had a good employment history, with his last permanent employment in 2015.
He worked doing some seasonal fruit picking in July last year.
"After a relationship breakdown, it seems you had your struggle with drugs," Magistrate Louisa Pink said.
"I'm told you are no longer using drugs and your criminal history supports that."
Magistrate Pink said she was told the offence came about because the defendant was trying to make ends meet.
Moore was sentenced to 180 hours of community services to be completed within 12 months for all charges.
"Having regard to your criminal history and character reflected in this offending, I will exercise my discretion to record a conviction," Magistrate Pink said.
He was also ordered to pay a restitution of $3270 to the farm.
Blackbutt man charged after going on a crime spree across the region
Two men were arrested and charged with a string of offences after an alleged property crime spree across the South Burnett and Western Downs back in July 2019.
A dog squad tracked the pair, Chinchilla's Jye Miles Cortes, 27, and Blackbutt's Cody Cortes, 20, who had allegedly evaded police during the day and escaped on foot through rural paddocks around Maidenwell.
They are alleged to have dumped a stolen car before fleeing on foot again.
Cody Cortes appeared in Murgon Magistrates Court on Wednesday, July 31 2019 charged with the unlawful use of three vehicles, arson, two counts of break and enter, two counts of evasion offences, three counts of stealing, dangerous operation of a vehicle and possession of drug utensils.
The property theft included a Toyota utility from Chinchilla at 5.35am on Monday, July 29 2019.
This was after the driver left it unlocked with the keys in the ignition outside a Warrego Highway store.
Police allege the men forced their way into an Upper Yarraman residence by smashing a side door at 11.05am.
It will be further alleged the two stole food and clothing before forcing open a gun safe at the property.
The men then are believed to have stolen a Hyundai sedan from a Nanango property as well as a fuel drum at 11.15am.
The Toyota was later located burnt out a distance away.
The police saw the vehicle on the Maidenwell Bunya Mountain Rd at midday.
They attempted to intercept the vehicle however the driver refused to stop.
Police abandoned the attempted intercept due to the dangerous way the vehicle was being driven.
Police will allege the men then drove off from a Maidenwell business without paying for fuel at 1pm.
Police who were tracking the men successfully deployed a tyre deflation device on the Kingaroy Cooyar Rd a short time later.
Police then attempted to intercept the vehicle however the men continued to drive for two kilometres until abandoning the Hyundai and taking off on foot through rural paddocks.
Cody Cortes allegedly continued to avoid detection before stealing a Toyota utility around 3pm along Kingaroy Cooyar Rd.
He allegedly drove to a Margaret St address in Blackbutt and police saw him running from the abandoned vehicle.
Police will allege he then broke into a Johns St residence in Blackbutt where he was found hiding in a bathroom.
He was arrested by police who were alerted by the resident who was home at the time.
According to a police media release, it is expected Jye and Cody Cortes will face further charges including the theft of security cameras from council waste facilities on July 16 and 17.
A $15 mistake edges teen closer to jail time
A string of petty theft and minor drug charges is edging an 18-year-old closer and closer to jail time.
Just two months after being placed on a suspended sentence, Lee Graham Quinn-Johnson has offended again.
Quinn-Johnson faced the Kingaroy magistrate back in July 2019 on five charges including possessing scissors used to cut marijuana, two counts of marijuana possession, a charge of receiving a football stolen from Taabinga State School and a charge of stealing $15 worth of goods from Wayne's World.
Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi told the court Quinn-Johnson was already on a suspended sentence.
"It's taken him two months since being placed on the suspended sentence to further his drug offending.
"It's a bit hard to comprehend how Mr Quinn-Johnson continues to carry illicit substances and stolen property when he knows police are going to approach him and conduct searches," Sgt Gangemi said.
"Yet, it's staggering to consider that this has not curbed his offending, nor has the suspended sentence."
Defence lawyer Chris Campbell said his 18-year-old client was trying to get his life back on track.
"He's currently living with his sister and no longer couch-surfing.
"He told me that his methamphetamine use has significantly subsided to once a fortnight.
"He was found with a very small amount of marijuana - one seed. And the stealing and receiving, well, that's just plain stupidity," he said.
Magistrate Louisa Pink said Quinn-Johnson's offending was on the lower end of the scale.
"The problem for you, is that you came before the court on similar charges of stealing and possessing drugs and utensils in February and suspended sentences were imposed on that day," she said.
Magistrate Pink extended the suspended sentence by two months. In respect of the charges of possessing dangerous drugs, stealing and receiving, Quinn-Johnson was sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment, wholly suspended with an operation period of six months.
The convictions were recorded.
Court forces teen to pay $4.50 to supermarket giant
A teenager who faced court back in February last year for stealing a can of Red Bull soft drink was forced to pay Woolworths $4.50 after pleading guilty to stealing a can of Red Bull.
William Robert Birks, 18, faced the Kingaroy Magistrates Court charged with one count of stealing and one count of unauthorised dealing of shop goods.
Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi said he stole the can of soft drink from Kingaroy Woolworths, as well as a bike.
When Sgt Gangemi told the court Woolworths was seeking $4.50 in compensation for the can of Red Bull, the public gallery laughed.
"He also found the bike in a park when he was intoxicated and rode it home," the sergeant said.
Defence lawyer Mark Oliver said Birks had a difficult childhood.
"He's had a bit of a hard time and he's trying to get out the other side of it," Mr Oliver said.
"We're seeking to have no conviction recorded because he's only got one previous (on his criminal history), he's still quite young and he has a future."
Magistrate Ross Woodford fined Birks $400 for stealing the bike, and $300 for stealing the can of soft drink.
Birks was also ordered to pay $4.50 in restitution to Woolworths.
The convictions were not recorded.
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