Brae Taylor Lewis was originally jailed for 11 years in 2018 after he was convicted of maiming his then-girlfriend by setting her on fire on May 27, 2016, but that was slashed on appeal.
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Rockhampton’s District Court had a challenging year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, recording the state’s lowest clearance rates for regional courts for criminal matters.
The busy court had a clearance rate of just 69.8 per cent in the 2019/2020 period for criminal matters, with 341 new cases lodged and 238 cleared.
It is a far cry from the 2016-17 financial year clearance rate of 103.6 per cent, meaning there was a 33.8 per cent drop in Rockhampton district court matters finalised.
This is in comparison to the state’s other regional District Courts clearance rates – Beenleigh (99.5 per cent), Cairns (89 per cent), Ipswich (96.4 per cent), Maroochydore (80.6 per cent), Southport (91.1 per cent) and Townsville (88.1 per cent).