Hard time for Toowoomba man who stole a cement truck
He bogged the cement truck in soft ground near Clifton and members of the public had helped free the vehicle without realising it had been stolen.
Police & Courts
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A TOOWOOMBA man described by a police prosecutor as a “recidivist thief” has been jailed for his role in the theft of two cement trucks from a Harristown work yard.
Bradley James Walker and a co-offender had broken into the Neil Mansell Concrete yards in Harristown some time between February 7 and 10 and stole two cement trucks as well as a large amount of tools, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.
One of the trucks was later found burnt out but the prosecution accepted Walker had nothing to do with that.
He had driven the truck he took to Clifton where it became bogged and members of public had helped free the vehicle without realising it had been stolen, police prosecutor Rowan Brewster-Webb told the court.
He was later captured by CCTV cameras driving the truck through Allora.
The 23-year-old was on parole and disqualified by the court from driving at the time, the court heard.
Walker appeared via video link from Brisbane Men’s Prison to plead guilty before the court to burglary, two counts of unlawfully using motor vehicles and disqualified driving arising from that incident, as well as to unrelated matters including possessing meth and a syringe he had failed to properly dispose of in April, stealing tools from Bunnings, and DVDs and clothing from Big W Clifford Gardens in July and to breaching bail on three occasions.
Referring to Walker’s criminal history, Mr Brewster-Webb described the 23-year-old as a “recidivist thief” and told the court this was his fifth offence of disqualified driving.
Defence solicitor Patrick O’Donnell said his client had spent 93 days in pre-sentence custody and had sought help for his issues from the prison chaplain while in custody.
He said his client instructed that drugs were available in prison but he had not touched any drugs while in custody.
Magistrate Graham Lee noted Walker had been sentenced in 2017 for his role in the theft of $22,000 worth of cigarettes from a Ruthven St tobacco store.
Mr Lee sentenced the 23-year-old to 14 months in jail but, declaring the 93 days as time served under the sentence, ordered he be released on parole immediately.
Walker was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for four years and ordered to pay restitution of $1277.