Toowoomba’s Harry Gardner again guilty of drug and property crimes

A court heard if a Toowoomba car thief was jailed, he may be exploited given his family’s “name”, building empire, and connection to the Toowoomba Regional Council.

Toowoomba man Harrison Jon Gardner was given another probation order after he was again found guilty of drug and property offences.

A young Toowoomba man has been given one last chance to use his large support network and stop getting involved with car theft when he fronted court for drug and property offences.

The 24-year-old man, Harrison Jon Gardner, filmed himself joy-riding in a stolen car with a female passenger and bragged about it to others before leaving it to burn in an attempt to cover his tracks.

He also attempted to sell cocaine and successfully sold small amounts of cannabis on two occasions, the court heard.

At the time, he was on a two-year probation order for committing the same serious property and arson offences, as well as another incident where he broke into a shed at a golf course and buggy before flipping it.

Gardner fronted Toowoomba District Court in June, and pleaded guilty to eight counts of supplying a dangerous drug, burglary, stealing, unlawful use of a car in company, and arson.

Gardner was about three months into the two-year probation order which he was placed on in 2022 for committing the same type of offences.

Toowoomba man Harrison Jon Gardner was given another probation order after he was again found guilty of drug and property offences.

More recently, he was placed on a nine-month probation order in Toowoomba Magistrates Court for the break in at the golf course.

The Crown told the court in early 2023, Gardner was waiting outside a Toowoomba home while co-offenders broke in, and he drove off in the car after being handed the keys.

The court heard the co-offenders remain unknown to police.

While driving around the streets of Toowoomba with a female passenger, who is not accused of wrongdoing, the Crown said Gardner filmed himself doing a doughnut and messaged a family member to brag about being in a “hottie”.

When the family member expressed concern, Gardner messaged the man “not to worry because he was going to burn it”.

Gardner then dumped the car at an intersection, where the Crown said an unknown person then set the car on fire.

When questioned by police, he lied about his whereabouts, however his phone told a different version of events.

Barrister Frank Martin, instructed by Bernays Lawyers, said on face value it may seem egregious Gardner reoffended so soon, but his intellectual difficulties and ADHD meant it took longer than normal for him to comprehend the ramifications of his actions.

He said the young man, who was volunteering his time once a week to feed the homeless, was easily led and exploited by others.

“There are other people involved … no one else has been charged,” he said.

“(That) he seems to be the scapegoat or exploited has some fruition to it because that is what’s happened.”

The young man was back before his local courthouse on June 20, 2024.

Mr Martin said Gardner was on the straight and narrow, seeking help for narcotic use, and had enrolled in rehabilitative programs which he initiated and was excited about.

“As has been said … by a clinical psychologist that sending him to jail would undo all the positive things that he has been able to achieve.”

He noted because of the man’s “name”, his parents, and the families building empire FKG Group, and connection to the Toowoomba Regional Council, he might be a target in prison.

None of Mr Gardner’s family are accused of any wrongdoing.

“He’d be easily exploited in jail and maybe even blackmailed as a consequence to the family,” Mr Martin said.

Judge Dennis Lynch KC told Gardner he would get one more opportunity and sentenced him to a three-year probation order for the “serious offending”.

“Hopefully you have come to realise we’re not going to put up with you stealing people’s cars … and burning them, if you do that again there’s going to come a point where you will go to jail,” he said.

Judge Lynch said while time or a suspended sentence may usually be within range, Gardner’s case had “very significant circumstances”, one of which was his intellectual difficulty which was recently upgraded from minor to moderate.

“It does seem to me that your circumstances are entirely different from the average offender, it would be a personal disaster in your case if you were actually imprisoned, imprisonment clearly would be more onerous than on the average person.”

A conviction was recorded – it was Gardner’s first.