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Subscriber only An unsuspecting good Samaritan gave a recidivist offender, who he only knew through a friend, a lift to ATM, only to have the offender drive off in his car. Mitchell Lawrence Slade, 32, pleaded guilty on December 11 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of unlawful use of motor vehicle, disqualified driving, possess restricted drug (amtriptyline hydrochloride) and two counts of possess syringe and fail to safely dispose. Crown prosecutor Elise Sargent said the victim received a message from Slade, who he knew through a friend, on December 8 asking for the lift. She said once they arrived at the Blackwater ATM that evening, Slade wanted to wait, claiming he saw someone he knew and had taken some days off work so he did not want to be seen by the colleague.
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Subscriber only CENTRAL Queensland District Courts were busy this year running child sex offending cases, both recent and historical, with one found not guilty by jury, others pleading guilty and some yet to dealt with. The cases were from across the Central Queensland region.
1) PRE-PUBESCENT TEEN BRIBED FOR SEX, FORTNIGHTLY FOR YEARS A ROCKHAMPTON girl was subjected to fortnightly unprotected sex for three years, when she was aged 11-14, after being preyed upon by her uncle at age 10. The uncle, 46, was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court in November after pleading guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, two counts of indecent treatment of a child and two of carnal knowledge.
Crown prosecutor Harriett Hall-Pearce said Laskey met the victim through a third-party who cannot be named for legal reasons. She said the third-party knew the victim and had approached him at the pub, asking him if he thought some gems she had were real or not. Ms Hall-Pearce said the third-party took Laskey to the victim s home later, about 9-9.30pm, where she asked the victim to look at some more gems she had. She said Laskey, who had a T-shirt wrapped around his head asked the victim where his safe was, to which the victim replied he no longer had it after being robbed previously.
Here are some the biggest juvenile cases finalised in Rockhampton courts this year:
1) JUVENILE GANG ROBS WANDAL IGA IN CRIME SPREE
A TEEN gang member involved in a crime spree across Rockhampton which included stealing cars and armed robbery with violence of the Wandal IGA last year, has been jailed. CCTV footage from IGA Wandal. Photo Contributed
The recidivist offender was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court on September 1 for more than 35 charges for his role in the robbery, along with stealing 10 cars and driving them around unlicensed while smoking drugs with his gang.
This offending was part of a 16-month crime spree, while the boy was aged 14 and 15, which involved breaking into homes and businesses to steal, along with obstruct police and drive unlicensed.
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A MAN who carried out a drug-fuelled jealous protracted weaponized attack on his partner, four months after being released from prison, is back behind bars.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty by a jury in the Rockhampton District Court in September of choking his partner.
He was sentenced in December for the choking, along with an assault occasioning bodily harm count linked to the choking offence.
The 26-year-old had pleaded guilty to the AOBH and not guilty to two counts of rape and the choking offence on September 1.
While the jury found the defendant guilty of the choking charge, they were unable to reach verdicts on the rape allegations and the prosecution elected not to proceed on those charges.