November 6, 2014
A Kingaroy resident who heard his parked car start up and drive away chased the thieves in another vehicle, Kingaroy Magistrates Court heard today.
Cody John Schloss, 18, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Police prosecutor Sgt Pepe Gangemi said the resident heard his car start up about 10:55pm on September 29. He looked out the window and saw it being driven away, closely followed by an Hyundai.
The man jumped into his partner’s car and followed the two vehicles down various roads. He eventually spotted his car, which had been abandoned, and sat in it until police arrived.
Police patrols then located the Hyundai.
Sgt Gangemi said Schloss and a friend had decided to go out “creeping”, ie. testing car doors to see if they would open, when one of them spotted a set of car keys on a driveway.
The owner of the vehicle told police he had locked his car but may have dropped the keys as he carried items into the house.
Initially, Schloss told police another person had been involved in the offence, but when re-interviewed said he had been driving the Hyundai.
Magistrate Simon Young said Schloss had an appalling history, entirely in the Children’s Court.
His most recent sentence was just last month when he received 18 months detention on a charge that had been delayed.
Magistrate Young sentenced Schloss to three months’ jail and set a parole eligibility date of December 5.
Schloss was handcuffed and led from court.
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A woman facing “multiple serious charges” will face three fewer following a brief hearing in Kingaroy Magistrates Court today.
Candice Mary Thomas has entered no plea to 102 charges, including fraud, theft, forgery, and breaching bail.
Police prosecutor Sgt Gangemi said police would not offer evidence on three charges.
He said he believed at least some of the other counts would be contested.
Thomas did not appear in court. Her appearance was excused after solicitor Mark Werner submitted a certificate stating she was “unfit for work”.
Magistrate Young adjourned the proceedings to December 18 for hearing mention and committal mention.
He ordered that police prepare a brief for this date but noted extra time may be sought because of the complexity of the charges.
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A man facing 12 charges, including counts of break-and-enter and stealing, will remain in custody despite Magistrate Young’s disappointment at the time being taken to prepare the police case.
Sgt Gangemi said the arresting officer was still preparing the brief because of his workload.
Magistrate Young said he took “an extremely dim view” of his directions not being followed and said it would have been “common courtesy” to inform the court earlier.
“I will not take a casual approach to my directions,” he said.
He directed that two CDs of records of interviews be made available to defence solicitor Chris Campbell by 3:00pm tomorrow and the brief of evidence to be provided in full by November 17.
Mr Young told Brendan Charles Boyle, who appeared via videolink, that he was very unhappy with the way his matter had been handled.
“It is not fair on you and disrespectful to the court,” he said.
However, as there was no application for bail, Boyle was remanded in custody to reappear on November 27.
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A 27-year-old man who threatened to stab a man at Kingaroy Shoppingworld in October has been released on parole.
Blane Mark Welling pleaded guilty via videolink to a string of unrelated charges: public nuisance, shop theft, possessing drug utensils, contravening a police direction, breaching bail, contravening a probation order and wilful damage.
Magistrate Young said the most serious charge was the wilful damage incident which occurred in September when Welling smashed the windows on a car with a metal bar after an argument with his mother.
The public nuisance charge related to an incident at Shoppingworld on October 8 when Welling became involved in an argument and made verbal threats to stab one of the men present.
Welling also admitted stealing two pairs of shorts from Struddy’s Sports in Kingaroy on August 14.
As Welling had been on probation at the time, he was also re-sentenced for earlier offences. He was fined $200 for contravening a direction; convicted and not further punished for possessing drug utensils and possessing explosives (ammunition); sentenced to one month’s jail, suspended for six months, for possessing a knife in a public place; and fined $400 for possessing dangerous drugs.
On the fresh charges, he was sentenced to one month’s jail for public nuisance and for breaching bail, and three months for wilful damage, to be served concurrently. He was fined $200 for disobeying a police direction and $200 for shoplifting, and ordered to pay $80 restitution for the stolen shorts.
As Welling had served 27 days in custody, Magistrate Young ordered that he be released on immediate parole.
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Magistrate Young also expressed concern after he learned that a man being held in custody that he had ordered undergo mental health assessment still had not been assessed.
Solicitor Mark Werner, appearing for Ashley Ekins, said a prison psychiatrist had taken Ekins off his medication “and it didn’t go well”. However his client had now been referred to Toowoomba Hospital for treatment.
Ekins has been charged with two counts of contravening a domestic violence order, assault, wilful damage and possessing dangerous drugs.
“I have noted that the mental health assessment has not been conducted and no one in this room is happy about that,” Magistrate Young said.
The charges were adjourned to November 27.
