Ryan John Ward faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for breaking into Lockyer Valley farmhouse

A 21-year-old man was enjoying a few beers at the pub with a mate but he ended up in jail. See how that happened here.

A few beers with a mate at the pub turned into a series of events that saw a 21-year-old Toowoomba man spend the next two months in jail.

Ryan John Ward had been drinking with an older mate at a Gatton pub on May 12 when his friend organised a lift back to Toowoomba, the city’s Magistrates Court was told.

However, en route back up the range, the driver took a detour to a Lockyer Valley farm where his associates broke into a farmhouse and stole goods, police prosecutor Sergeant Alister Windsor told the court.

The 21-year-old never realised how much trouble a few beers can be.

Ward had spent the ensuing 67 days in custody since his arrest and appeared via video link from the prison to plead guilty to that offence as well as to nine unrelated matters including possessing a Category H weapon in an air pistol and a small amount of meth in February, riding a stolen unregistered and uninsured motorcycle while his licence was SPER suspended on February 23, and to possessing tainted property in the form of an expensive handbag and wallet that he couldn’t explain and to possessing medication for which he had no prescription.

His solicitor Joe McConnell, of McConnell Saldumbide Lawyers, told the court Ward’s offending had coincided with his drug addiction and his time in custody “was the circuit breaker that needed” as he had time to reflect on his life and get off drugs.

Toowoomba solicitor Joe McConnell

Ward had put on 15kg since being in custody and he had been training in the gym, he said.

His client hadn’t known about plans of the others to break into the farmhouse but he had been drunk and simply tagged along, he said.

Ward planned to move to the Kingaroy area to live with his grandmother but he had the prospect of obtaining work through his FIFO father on mines in Western Australia, Mr McConnell submitted.

Magistrate Clare Kelly took into account the 67 days in custody and ordered the convictions not be recorded so as not to interfere with Ward’s prospects of work.

She placed Ward on 12 months’ probation to include random drug testing and disqualified him from driving for one month.