Townsville District Court: Shane Paul Stratton sentenced for $40k bribe given to former Palm Island Council deputy CEO John Mugambi Mwamba

A Townsville business manager has narrowly escaped deportation after being found guilty by jury of bribing a member of an NQ council.

Townsville District Court: Shane Paul Stratton sentenced for $40k bribe given to former Palm Island Council deputy CEO John Mugambi Mwamba Picture: Zak Simmonds

Acts of desperation to get out of owning a North Queensland pub is what forced a Townsville businessman to participate in a ‘corrupt scheme’ that saw him jailed and threatened with deportation.

Current manager of Reef Recycling, Shane Paul Stratton appeared in Townsville District Court on Friday morning after an almost weeks-long trial involving a jury found him guilty of corruption.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Walklate said it took a jury only an hour and a half to reject the argument that Stratton paid the former Palm Island Council deputy CEO John Mugambi Mwamba a “spotter’s fee” rather than a bribe.

In 2015 Stratton paid Mwamba a total of $37,500 in cash over a four week period in a bid to speed up the council’s purchase of Stratton’s shares in the Coolgaree Bay Sports Bar, the court was told.

However the purchase of the shares fell through and Stratton wound up being out of pocket of the almost $40,000 according to Mr Walklate.

Judge Paul Smith when summarizing the offences said Mwamba was a “clear fraudster”.

“The problem is when you deal with someone like that you take that risk,” His Honour said.

Mr Walklate responded, “and when you deal with those people you yourself are part of the corruption”.

He also said that Stratton involved himself in the scheme not only by sending the money to Mwamba but by emailing a member of council stressing that other buyers were interested, in a bid to put pressure on the sale.

The crown prosecutor said an aggravating feature was Palm Island itself.

Townsville District Court: Shane Paul Stratton sentenced for $40k bribe given to former Palm Island Council deputy CEO John Mugambi Mwamba Pic Mark Calleja

“It’s a small island servicing a small population of people, the impacts of this kind of offending is felt larger,” Mr Walklate said.

Defence barrister Simon Fisher submitted an apology letter from Stratton that outlined he accepted that he “acted corruptly”.

“He was assaulted twice in the pub, received death threats, he was desperate to get out of the pub,” Mr Fisher said.

His Honour pressed the lawyer for details about why there was a deal made in the first place, to which Mr Fisher said Stratton complained to an acquaintance about wanting to leave the pub behind and it was that acquaintance who put him in touch with Mwamba.

“Mwamba was a fraudulent individual and rather persuasive and your client foolishly and criminally became involved,” Judge Smith said.

Mr Fisher agreed and emphasized that his client was now out of pocket almost $40,000.

Additionally, the court was told Stratton was New Zealand-born and not an Australian citizen and that people who are given a head sentence of 12 months or more are threatened with deportation which was a factor His Honour considered.

Mr Fisher also brought attention to Mwamba’s sentence who received five and a half years jail, eligible for parole on November 30, 2026 after pleading guilty towards the end of a trial to misconduct in public office, fraud as an employee and receiving a secret commission.

“Mwamba’s criminality far outweighs this case,” he said.

His Honour said he accepted that Mwamba was a “persuasive individual” and a “fraudster” who influenced Stratton.

“It’s a real shame you committed this offence actually because I think otherwise you’re a decent person,” Judge Smith said.

“We cannot have a society that depends on bribery.”

Stratton pleaded guilty to giving secret commission.

He was sentenced to 11 months jail suspended after serving three months for an operational period of two years.

Originally published as Townsville District Court: Shane Paul Stratton sentenced for $40k bribe given to former Palm Island Council deputy CEO John Mugambi Mwamba