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Subscriber only A WARWICK man has avoided jail time after a spate of abusive public outbursts, including assaulting a police officer at the scene of a raging house fire. Emergency services were called to a unit fire on Wallace St at about 11.30pm on April 4 last year, where Peter John Harvey was visiting a friend. The Warwick Magistrates Court heard the 47-year-old disregarded warnings and went into the block during the fire, then became belligerent toward police officers telling him to leave. Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the Warwick man made growling noises and swore at one policeman before spitting at him and punching him in the arm several times.
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A SOUTHERN Downs teen involved in a lucrative internet scam told a court he was tricked into the scheme.
Police busted Malcolm O’Neill at a Rochedale South home on January 4 last year, after he allegedly teamed up with his co-accused on nine separate scams in 2019.
The Warwick Magistrates Court heard the 19-year-old helped with minor details of the fake ads and received a small amount of the victims’ money in return.
Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the frauds were not O’Neill’s first dishonest crime, with a previous stealing offence on his criminal record.
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A SOUTHERN Downs man has claimed it was “pure desperation” that drove him to file a false insurance claim worth almost $30,000 as a means of covering his gambling debts.
Stan John Slabosz abandoned his family caravan on an isolated piece of land outside Warwick on August 5, then returned home and reported it as stolen with his insurer.
Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the 64-year-old received a $28,375 payout.
The Warwick Magistrates Court heard the father-of-three needed the money to cover the gambling debts he’d accrued over the past five years, which were in excess of $30,000.
Parker admitted taking the container and said he ate all of the cheese shortly after, before washing the container and putting it in his cupboard.
Lawyer Phil Crook told the court his client, who has brain damage and other health issues, took the food in a “spur of the moment act because he was hungry after using most of his money for household bills.
“He didn’t realise he’d left the fridge open but accepts responsibility for his actions, Mr Crook said.
Acting Magistrate Rob Turra accepted Parker was motivated by hunger.
“It is not the most sophisticated of offences to come before the court,” he said.