Teen guilty of violent home invasion in Toowoomba region, drug deals

A man’s head was split open after a teenager armed with a loaded sawn-off rifle, attempted to steal his car during a violent home invasion.

.22 Sawn-off rifle, Toowoomba. Picture: File / QPS

A Toowoomba region man was left bloody after he confronted two young men who broke into his Meringandan West home, north of Toowoomba, while armed with a sawn-off rifle.

The teenager who was armed with the .22 caliber rifle appeared at Toowoomba District Court on Monday, July 8, and pleaded guilty to the violent home invasion that occurred on October 16, 2023.

He also pleaded guilty to dealing 1.7g of meth and 7g of cannabis during October.

The young man cannot be named given he was under the age of 18 at the time of the serious crime.

The court heard after the co-offenders broke into the regional Queensland home through a laundry door, the Meringandan West man woke to find the offenders in his kitchen.

The pair then attempted to rob the man of his car keys, however a scuffle ensued between the resident and the co-offender.

The young man armed with the loaded gun grabbed a wooden chair and smashed it over the victim’s head, splitting it open.

The pair then fled, leaving the gun behind.

In July 2024 at the Toowoomba Magistrates Court, a young man pleaded guilty to breaking into a Toowoomba home armed with a gun and attempting to rob the resident.

Following the young man’s indictment, his sentence was adjourned to July 19, while the court awaits a pre-sentence custody report.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying dangerous drugs, attempted robbery occasioning wounding, the unlawful possession of a category H weapon, and break and enter at night to commit a crime while armed and in company.