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A vile sex offender impersonating security, a child abducted and left at a McDonald’s, two teens’ crime spree and a siege which stopped the town for 36 hours - 2020 was a most shocking year for crime in the Gladstone region.
To mark the end of the year
The Observer has compiled a list of crimes exposed in our courtrooms which shook the region.
Sex offender wears ‘security’ shirt, waits in school toilets Shannon Norgate faced Gladstone District Court for vile child sex offences this year.
A man, 21, who preyed on children at and around a Gladstone school while wearing a “security” shirt has been released from prison after serving 406 days.
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Two Queensland Alumina Limited staff were not properly trained to prevent a serious environmental breach when the alarm was raised on September 8, 2018, a court has heard.
The error resulted in a two to three tonne slurry of alkaline bauxite being released into the air which travelled 11km south and impacted 119 properties and vehicles in the South Tree Industrial State and caused $868,906.78 in insurance payouts.
Crown prosecutor Deborah Holiday, acting for the Department of Environment and Science, told Gladstone Magistrates Court an alarm was raised at 5.55pm where a control room supervisor requested an electrician investigate the incident who in turn contracted a technical specialist.