Charlie Mark Adams jailed for attempted armed robbery, enter dwelling with intent

The court heard the 26-year-old knocked a nursing assistant unconscious after holding a knife to her throat.

A man has been jailed for a series of offences which culminated in an attempted knifepoint robbery and savage beating of a staff member of a retirement village.

The incident began on the evening of June 23, 2021, when Charlie Mark Adams was confronted by the occupants of a Rockville home, accusing the then 25-year-old of looking through their window.

Toowoomba District Court was told Adams swung a plank of wood at the home occupants and threw it at them.

Adams then went to the nearby Northridge Haven Retirement Village and forced his way into the unit of a 79-year-old woman and 80-year-old man.

Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie said the woman screamed when she found Adams in her kitchen and he fled.

Cutting a hole in a flyscreen window, Adams gained entry to a room where a nursing assistant had just placed her handbag in a cupboard.

“He has gone up to her while she was working outside and put his hand over her mouth, told her to be quiet and instructed her to go inside,” Ms Petrie said.

Charlie Adams has been jailed for assaulting a woman while attempting to rob her at knifepoint.

“He has pulled a knife from his pants and held it against her throat.”

The court was told after Adams took the woman’s handbag there was a scuffle as he attempted to flee.

“He grabbed (the victim’s) hair and slammed her head into the wall multiple times,” Ms Petrie said.

“He then grabbed her shoulders and slammed her against the wall repeatedly.”

The woman called her help and Adams hit her, knocking her out, with the victim regaining consciousness as he was kicking her.

The court was told Adams fled without any property, but was linked to the assault by DNA evidence despite his alibis.

Adams faced court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to threatening violence, enter dwelling with intent by break, enter premises with intent and attempted robbery with actual violence while armed.

Adams’ barrister Frank Martin said his client had a history of drug problems, which were the “only explanation” of the bizarre offending.

Mr Martin said his client had been expelled from Harristown in Year 9, but had a good work history as a ringbarker and more recently as a roofer, and that upon his release his former employer would take him back on.

A talented footballer, the court was told Adams had been a member of the Gold Coast Titans’ Under 20s, as well as playing for the Redcliffe Dolphins and Ipswich Jets, and that he wanted to continue to pursue playing football.

“He won’t get much of a chance of doing that if he keeps finding himself in jail,” Judge Michael Byrne QC said.

Adams was sentenced to five years behind bars, with a parole eligibility date set at May 2, 2023 after serving 287 days of pre-sentence custody.