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Subscriber only In a heartfelt letter to the court, a man who lit a campfire that started a blaze that scorched half of Fraser Island said he wished he could undo what he had done. Liam Gregory Cheshire, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful lighting of a fire and leaving a fire unattended. The Warwick man did not appear at Hervey Bay Magistrates Court in person but the charges were dealt with in his absence. Police prosecutor Sonia Edwards said the fire was lit by Cheshire using vegetation and sticks from the surrounding area on October 14 last year.
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Subscriber only Two men who were part of a camping group responsible for sparking a wildfire that scorched half of Fraser Island have pleaded guilty to unlawful lighting of a fire. Travis Robert Lowe and Lachlan James Brown, both from Rosenthal Heights, had their matters mentioned in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Thursday but neither appeared in person. Lowe pleaded guilty and submitted a letter to the court which expressed remorse for his involvement and outlined how he sincerely believed the campfire had been extinguished before the group left the site. In the letter, Lowe wrote that he loved camping and never meant to harm or risk the environment.
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Two offences committed ten years ago have caught up with a woman, who faced Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Nicole Butcher, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of stealing from June 25 2011 and one count of fraud from 27 December 2010.
Police Prosecutor Senior Constable Sonia Edwards said the incident of stealing occurred at Soul Pattinson Pharmacy in Murgon, where the defendant took a bottle of perfume, removed the plastic wrapper and placed the bottle in her handbag.
“She left the store making no attempt to purchase the goods. CCTV footage captured that offence, police made an attempt to locate her however she had returned to New South Wales.”