Toowoomba’s prison brawler Owen Murphy appears by video from jail

Serving seven years jail due to the prison brawl and other offences, Murphy appeared in court by video link from the prison.

A Toowoomba man who gained notoriety across the nation after video of a prison brawl in which he was involved appeared in a story in The Chronicle has appeared back before the city’s Magistrates Court.

Owen Keith Murphy, 39, appeared by video link from the Brisbane Correctional Centre to plead guilty before Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Friday to a string of burglary and unlawful use of motor vehicle charges.

Those offences included his stealing a Pajero from Campbell Street while the car’s owner was loading a new clothes dryer into the vehicle on December 9.

The car’s owner tried to stop Murphy but jumped free as the car sped up the street.

The vehicle was later found with Murphy’s DNA inside, the court heard.

His DNA had also been found on the wrapper of a Zuper Dooper iceblock which Murphy had consumed after breaking into the offices of LJ Hooker Shailer Park on January 20.

He had also stolen a wallet and keys to a vehicle which he drove off in after entering a home in Logan Central on January 5.

Murphy was captured on CCTV footage trying on new shoes at a shoe store in Grand Central in Toowoomba.

He walked out without paying for the $149 shoes, police prosecutor Sergeant Natalie Bugden told the court.

Murphy’s solicitor Brad Skuse, of David Burns Lawyers, asked the court to impose current terms of imprison to run alongside the seven-year term his client received in the Toowoomba District Court in May for the prison brawl and other charges.

Magistrate Kay Ryan sentenced Murphy to 12 months in jail with the same parole eligibility date of January 7, 2022, as set by the District Court.