Christopher James Peters already on parole when he committed wilful damage offence

The 28-year-old was spared further penalty because he was already subject to a lengthy parole period.

A 28-year-old Toowoomba man with significant mental health challenges, who is already subject to a lengthy parole period, has appeared back in court on “clear up” offences.

Christopher James Peters was sentenced to three years in jail but released on parole having served 159 days in pre-sentence custody by the Toowoomba District Court in June.

That sentence was imposed after the 28-year-old pleaded guilty to two separate armed robbery offences in which he had pretended to be armed to have the counter attendant hand over relatively small amounts of cash.

Christopher James Peters was sentenced in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on August 22, 2023.

He appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to eight offences, seven of which were committed prior to his District Court sentence in June and one after that sentence when he was subject to parole.

The earlier offences included dishonestly obtaining $1900 from a man who mistakenly deposited the money into an account believing he was talking to a bank loans officer but in fact was accessed by Peters in December 2020.

The other matters included Peters unlawfully using a stolen vehicle in which his fingerprints were found though there was no evidence he had driven the vehicle, possessing a knife in public, assaulting and obstructing a police officer and twice breaching bail.

The offence committed after his June sentence and while he was subject to parole included the wilful damage of a Toowoomba Hospital vehicle.

Defence solicitor Alysha Jacobsen, of Bouchier Khan Lawyers, told the court on that occasion Peters had been angry that he didn’t get the help he believed he needed from hospital staff and he had damaged the side mirror of a vehicle while walking through the hospital car park.

Ms Jacobsen said her client had an NDIS package which afforded him a carer for a couple of hours three days a week, which would soon be increased to five days a week, as well as being on a forensic order and under the supervision of the Public Guardian and Public Trustee so he had support in the community.

Magistrate Clare Kelly fined Peters $350 for the damage to the car mirror and convicted him with no further penalty on the earlier offences.