Craig Edward Carroll sentenced in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on assault, stalking charges

‘Strange and disturbing’: A man who stalked a Hervey Bay woman and randomly assaulted a Toowoomba woman with a tomato has pleaded guilty to 16 crimes.

Craig Edward Carroll at the Toowoomba Court house on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

A man who randomly pegged a tomato at a woman walking through the Toowoomba CBD because he was mad at women has been released from custody after pleading guilty to a spate of crimes committed across the state.

Craig Edward Carroll fronted the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday, February 17, via videolink where he pleaded guilty to 16 charges.

Police prosecutor Al Windsor said the most serious of Carroll’s charges was the assault in Toowoomba and a stalking offence from Hervey Bay which he committed against strangers in August 2024.

Craig Edward Carroll at the Toowoomba Court house on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

Senior Constable Windsor said the 31-year-old’s actions showed a concerning attitude towards women.

He noted when Toowoomba officers took up with Carroll and questioned him about assaulting the Toowoomba woman with a tomato, he told them he threw the fruit out of frustration because he was mad at women.

“Those two things… paint a picture of an increasing threat towards women in society and a threat that ought to be denounced in the strongest terms that the court can actually do,” Senior Constable Windsor said.

The court was told the stalking incident occurred in Pialba, where Carroll stalked a woman who worked at a beauty business.

The woman was so unnerved she stopped attending work.

Carroll told his solicitor Alysha Jacobsen that he thought the woman was very pretty, and if he knew she wasn’t interested he would have stopped attempting to talk to her.

“Ultimately all he wanted to do was have a conversation with her, he says that if she had spoken to him herself and said she wasn’t interested then he would have taken it seriously and left her alone,” Ms Jacobsen said.

“But at the time he felt that others were in the way.”

Craig Edward Carroll at the Toowoomba Court house on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

Ms Jacobsen said Carroll was not in contact with his family, however noted he responded well to community-based orders because they provided him with a level of supervision and support.

She said Carroll was homeless when he committed a number of the offences, which also led to him relapsing.

The court was told Carroll travelled to Brisbane from Toowoomba in December to stay in a park because he wanted to see the new casino.

Brisbane police arrested Carroll after he stole a knife from a Kangaroo Point business, which he was later seen brandishing while walking along the Brisbane River Walkway and mumbling incoherently on December 20.

The court was told while at the business where he stole the knife Carroll demanded $50,000 cash, a car, and a house to live in, prompting a woman to pick up her baby and flee the area.

Magistrate Lisa O’Neill agreed with police that the Toowoomba assault and stalking incident were Carroll’s most serious charges, noting the tomato assault borne out of anger at women in general was very strange and disturbing.

As part of her sentencing structure, Ms O’Neill said Carroll needed to attend a behavioural counselling program for men and healthy relationships.

After pleading guilty to 16 charges, Carroll was sentenced to an eight month jail term and 40 hours of community service by graffiti removal.

Carroll’s other charges related to him stealing alcohol from a number of businesses, using paint to graffiti ‘SO’ on a concrete wall in Toowoomba, possessing knuckle dusters, breaching bail conditions, and possessing a clip seal bag with crystallised residue.

The 59 days he spent in pre-sentence custody were declared time served and he was released on probation.

A five-year restraining order was put in place preventing Carroll from approaching the Hervey Bay women he stalked.