It’s a regular Monday in the Mount Isa Magistrates Court. 

9:09am: MOUNT Isa Magistrate Stephen Guttridge enters the courtroom.  

Police prosecutor Sergeant Martin Longhurst introduces himself to the Mount Isa Magistrate Court. He was formerly a police prosecutor in the same court before moving to Brisbane. He returns for a five week stint. 

James Richard Spoof appears by video link – having been accused of grievous bodily harm, trespass, common assault, and breaching a domestic violence order. 

It’s alleged that Mr Spoof caused grievous bodily harm to a person in Boulia on October 10, 2015. The trespass was linked to the same incident, Sergeant Longhurst said. 

Mr Spoof made no plea. 

Mr Guttridge brought the matter up to the Mount Isa District Court at a date to be set by the Director of Public Prosecutions. 

No application for bail was made. The other two charges of common assault and breaching a domestic violence order were adjourned to the magistrates court on July 13. 

9:20am: A 33-year-old man pleaded guilty to contravening a domestic violence order. 

At the bar representing Richard John Kennedy is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (ATSILS) solicitor Tim Carberry. 

Kennedy breached the order by spitting at his partner on the veranda of a Flynn Street property in Mount Isa at 1.35am, April 1. 

Mr Carberry said his client – who has been imprisoned in the past – had been off alcohol for three months but on the night had been drinking home brew. 

“She (the victim) drank home brew for a certain point and stopped and wanted him to stop. During that point the spitting occurred,” Mr Carberry explained to the magistrate. 

“He (Kennedy) said getting off alcohol is easy but home brew is not good for him. I ask for a suspended sentence.” 

Magistrate Guttridge ordered that Kennedy be placed on the suspended imprisonment order. Kennedy will serve two months jail time if he fails the order within a year. The domestic violence order is extended another year. 

9:25am: 24-year-old Charles Yarran Page, pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly at the Buffs Club. 

Sergeant Longhurst said another person bumped Page in the early hours of a Saturday morning. Page felt he had been disrespected. 

Page slapped the other man and “fought back blow for blow”. 

Security stepped in and restrained them.

Page broke free while the other man was on the ground and kicked him in the “head area”, Sergeant Longhurst said. 

Mr Carberry said there were no injuries or there would be more serious charges. 

His client was a supervisor in a tree lobbing company and recently moved to Mount Isa to reunite with family. 

Page was fined $750. 

9:30am: Mr Carberry of ATSILS now defends Walter Vincent Thompson, 29, who pleads guilty to wilful damage. 

Thompson was locked out of a house in Abel Smith by his uncle’s children. 

He pushed on a window to remove it so he could get back inside. The window was dislodged but it fell on the front veranda and smashed. 

The property – and therefore the damaged window – was owned by public housing. 

Mr Guttridge described Thompson’s actions as “reckless” and fined him $400. 

9:36am: A 17-year-old chap by the name of Darren Marcel John Lucas appears in court by video link. 

He pleaded guilty to two charges of entering premises with intent, entering premises and committing an offence by breaking and entering, attempting to enter a premises with the intention of committing a crime.

He received tainted property – in relation to a stolen hard drive, Sergeant Longhurst said. 

Lucas and other offenders broke into a Mount Isa Mines office. They used a shovel to smash four CCTV cameras and stole a desktop computer. 

“The costs to replace the CCTV cameras and repair a door is estimated to be over $10,000,” Sergeant Longhurst said. 

Several other businesses including Hertz Rental were also broken into during the same week in February by Lucas and co-offenders so they could steal computer parts. 

Solicitor Mr Schneider said his client had a criminal history but all charges had been in the children’s court. 

Mr Guttridge considered the 82 days that Lucas spent in custody. 

The magistrate ordered that Lucas be on parole for 10.5 months. However, Lucas would be released the same day. The stolen items were forfeited. 

9:46am: It’s raining outside. The lights in the court room black out for a moment before power is restored. The air-con does not restart.

9:50am: The court hears that police noticed a man with blood on his shirt at a Mount Isa property. 

They talked to Jamie Dean Parker, 43, who swore at them and then locked himself in his house. 

”He was covered in blood, the police wanted to investigate it,” Sergeant Longhurst explained to the court. 

Police did not need to force entry into the house. Parker came out voluntarily. 

Parker pleaded guilty to obstructing police. His Legal Aid solicitor Danny Yarrow explained why his client had blood on his shirt. 

”He was drinking 18 hours straight and walked home alone (after an argument), and police arrived while he was throwing things, and he cut himself. 

Parker was fined $400. 

9:59am: Peter Anthony Fenton, 43, is in court because he had an air rifle that he had not stored away properly. 

He had no licence for it either. 

The court hears that the diesel fitter was given the rifle by a friend, and did not know he needed a licence. 

Mr Yarrow asked that his client not have a conviction recorded after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a weapon. 

Mr Guttridge agrees to not giving Fenton a conviction.

Fenton is placed on a $300 good behaviour bond. It means that he is fined $300 if he is charged with another crime in the next year. 

10:02am: Court is closed for a juvenile matter. 

10:05am: Court opens again.

Benjamin Arapeta Tepania pleads guilty to riding an unregistered motorbike. As a consequence to being unregistered, it’s also uninsured – which comes as its own charge. 

Tepania was caught by police riding the bike at 7.40pm on April 21. He was fined a total $300. 

Mr Guttridge said the fine would have been half that of an infringement notice. 

10:08am: A 24-year-old Mount Isa Hospital nurse was caught driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.082, the court hears. 

Joanne Margaret Cranney pleaded guilty to the charge. Police intercepted her in West Street on April 12 in 2015. 

Solicitor Mr Schneider said that his client had one glass of wine with friends at the Red Lantern Chinese Restaurant and was driving straight home. 

“She did not think it would be over the legal limit,” Mr Schneider said. 

Cranney was fined $500 and had her licence disqualified a month. Her traffic history was “very limited”, Mr Guttridge noted. 

10:15am: The court hears that police were investigating a noise complaint at 11.25pm on April 23. 

Douglas Grant O’Reilly, 26, walks up to the police in the street with blood around his mouth. 

Someone shouts at O’Reilly while police ask him what the cause of the blood was. 

Right in front of the police, O’Reilly shouted “I will wreck you!” to the person, who fell over the gutter as O’Reilly walked towards him threateningly, according to the police prosecutor. 

O’Reilly was fined $500 after pleading guilty to public nuisance. 

10:18am: It’s another public nuisance charge, but this time involving a taser, and two women fighting over a metal pole. 

Jenna Michelle Gronwald, 24, pleads guilty to the charge. Police were investigating a noise complaint when they noticed her and another woman tugging at a metal pole on April 23 (note the date on the previous defendant). 

Gronwald managed to get the pole and raised it threateningly at the other woman, and said “I’m going to effing get you,” according to prosecutor Sergeant Longhurst. 

She ignored police when they told her to drop the pole until they pulled out a taser. 

“She wasn’t tasered,” Sergeant Longhurst clarified. “She was handcuffed and placed in the vehicle.” 

Ms Gronwald, who represented herself, asked that the conviction not be recorded. Mr Guttridge decided it would not be. He fined her $350. 

10:21am: Liam Joseph Willis, 18, was driving in Marian Street after all his demerit points were lost. He pleaded guilty to driving without a licence and was fined $400, and had his licence disqualified six months. 

10:24am: Justin Mason, 34, tested positive to methylamphetamine and cannabis after police pulled him over on Alpha Avenue. 

They tested him on January 22 at 4.14pm.  

The self-represented defendant pleaded guilty to driving while drugs were present in his blood. 

He said that police told him the results were not “a total positive”. 

Mr Guttridge said the type of test only showed the drug was “either there or not there”. 

“It only says it’s present, it doesn’t say you were affected by it,” the magistrate said. 

Mason was fined $450 and had his licence disqualified one month.

10:30am:  Robert William Petrie was stopped by police in Lake Moondarra Road on April 23 when his car swerved.

His blood alcohol level was tested to be 0.14. 

Petrie told police he drank a full bottle of wine before driving. 

Petrie pleaded guilty to driving over the middle alcohol limit. He was fined $800. 

He had his licence disqualified for eight months. 

10:34am: Copper smelter supervisor Allan Furness pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended licence – which was disqualified due to speeding. 

He was fined $500 and had his licence disqualified for six months.

10:38am:  Court is adjourned. The magistrate goes to his chambers. Staff install two fans throughout the ever stuffy room. The air-con is still not working after power was cut momentarily. 

They seek a third fan for the magistrate, who apparently says while in his chamber, “I am tough, I will sweat it out.” 

The bar table’s fan is turned off after it constantly blows into a microphone. 

10:54am: Court resumes. Kyle Harold Thompson, 37, appears on two charges of having methylamphetamine. 

Thompson pleads guilty to two charges of possessing dangerous drugs and to driving without a licence. He was caught by police driving in Camooweal Street on April 22. 

Each dangerous drug charge equated to a gram or less of methylamphetamine, Sergeant Longhurst said. 

No conviction was recorded and he was fined $750 for dangerous drugs, $300 for unlicenced driving and was suspended from driving for one month. 

11:07am: Owen Thomas Walden pleads guilty to public nuisance. 

He was fighting in a Mount Isa street with his shirt off, Sergeant Longhurst said. 

“He stated he had been teased by a group of juveniles earlier and wanted to sort things out,” the police prosecutor said. 

“There were calls from members of the public unable to leave their homes.” 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service solicitor Penny Hallam said that her client was arguing because his father-in-law, an elder, was being treated disrespectfully. 

“He was arguing with his shirt off but there was no charge of assault,” Ms Hallam said. 

Walden was given a one month suspended imprisonment order. He will serve it if he is convicted with another offence in six months. 

12:05pm: 17-year-old Lenny Frank was walking in the street while carrying a bong. 

He was fined $250, although the matter was heard ex-parte, meaning he was not in the court room when the matter was heard. No conviction was recorded. 

12:07pm: Another matter heard ex-parte involving a 17-year-old, this time for an Isac Gundy, begins. He was fined $300 for trespassing at the Leichhardt Hotel. 

12:21pm: Kerryn Joel Swadling is fined $151 and ordered to pay $90.20 in costs after a speed camera catches him driving 70 kilometres an hour in Marian Street. Although some of us may have done the same, the speed limit is 60. 

12:36pm: 25-year-old Shonnelle Eileen Thompson (the third Thompson of the day) is charged with breaching a domestic violence order. 

At 12.30am on March 30 she attacked the male victim and bit him at a Gardner Street property. Her partner had threatened to cut himself. During the argument she was locked outside. “It all ended badly with police being called,” ATSILS solicitor Mr Carberry said. 

“She does admit to going over the top.” 

Thompson was placed on 12 months probation. No conviction was recorded. Her domestic violence order was extended another year to 2017. 

12:50pm: Nathan John Marshall, 30, first claims he is his brother when police catch him driving on a suspended licence, the court hears. 

Marshall was caught driving without a licence in West Street at 12.30am on February 4. 

Solicitor Mr Carberry said; “he drove to help a mate’s car back to his mate’s wife.”  Marshall was fined $300 and had his licence disqualified one month. 

12:58pm: A 34-year-old man’s blood alcohol level was 0.174 – more than three times the alcohol limit – when police catch him driving in a Landcruiser in Mount Isa. 

The court heard Lawrence Edward Rankine was drinking at a cousin’s house and was offering a lift to a young nephew, who needed a lift to the Pioneer-Sunset area. 

Rankine pleaded guilty to drink driving. He was fined $1000 and had his licence disqualified for nine months. 

Mr Guttridge said Rankine will be placed on interlock provisions whenever he regains his licence.

1:01pm: Rosina Grace Nero, 30, visits a property in McIntyre Street and asks a man for money, the court hears. 

When refused she throws a rock through the window and runs away. 

Nero pleads guilty to wilful damage. She is fined $400 but no conviction is recorded. 

1:03pm: Two men are fighting in the middle of Abel Smith Parade when police see them. 

The men refuse to stop fighting until police point tasers in their direction, Sergeant Longhurst tells the court. 

The defendant, David Phillip Richard Donnelly, 20, from Doomadgee, is one of the men.

He had to be taken to the Mount Isa Hospital for treatment after his arrest on March 12. The other fighter was charged as well. 

Solicitor Mr Carberry said, “he admits he shouldn’t have been fighting. The other person was just looking for a fight.” 

Donnelly was fined $500. 

1:06pm: A 21-year-old woman was charged with breaching a domestic violence order on March 22. She punched her partner causing his nose to bleed after he threatened to take away their child. 

Tensions had built with her partner over several weeks after their house in Pamela Street was subjected to a police drug raid, Sergeant Longhurst said. 

No conviction was recorded. She was fined $400. The domestic violence order against her was extended a year. 

1:12pm: Solicitor Mr Carberry asks  that a client’s case be adjourned until the following day. “He took the liberty of saying he had to go home because he was probably not fit for court,” Mr Carberry said. 

“I wasn’t satisfied I could take instructions off him.” 

1:14pm: 18-year-old Shanessa Mabel Edith Ah-One pleaded guilty to ignoring police instruction after being held responsible for a noisy party. 

Police visited the Mount Isa property three times within as many hours after a noise complaint was made.

“It must have been quite the party,” Sergeant Longhurst commented.

ATSILS solicitor Penny Hallam said the party was not even at her client’s house. 

“At 18-years-old, she did come forward and take responsibility for the noise,” Ms Hallam said. 

“When police returned as it states in the facts, Ms Ah-One did ask assistance to clear some people from the party. 

“She was having a difficult time bringing the party to a close. 

“By the time police returned a third time she was at the front and didn’t have control of people at the party.” 

Ah-One was placed on a $300 good behaviour bond, which lasts six months. 

1:20pm: A man was almost five times the alcohol limit when caught driving in Mount Isa at 9.20am on April 23.

Sergeant Longhurst said that Terrance Kelly was slurring his words when police intercepted him, which was “unsurprising” considering Kelly’s alcohol level was 0.240. 

Kelly claimed he only had three to four cans of Victoria Bitter two hours before he was caught by police. 

Sergeant Longhurst said that Kelly had an 11 page criminal history in the Northern Territory, and had never held a licence. 

Ms Hallam said Kelly was driving his family members. 

Kelly was fined $1500 after pleading guilty to drink driving and without a licence. He will not be able to gain his licence for at least 18 months. 

1:25pm: Another high level drink driving charge. This time, it’s Patricia Anne Jangala who pleads guilty to having a blood alcohol reading of four times the legal limit.  

She was intercepted in Hinkler Crescent with a blood alcohol reading of 0.205. 

Jangala was on probation when intercepted by police because of another serious drink driving charge. 

Ms Hallam said her client was driving after having an argument with her partner. She has three dependents. 

Mr Guttridge said to the defendent; “if you commit three major drink driving offences in five years – you have committed two in two years – you will have to go to jail.

“I’m stressing to you the consequences not just to you but to your family.”  

Jangala was fined $2000 and had her licence disqualified for a total four years. 

“If the circumstances are warranted you can bring an appeal to have the disqualified removed after two years. Don’t drink and drive,” the magistrate said. 

1:32pm: Police caught seven people squished in a five seat vehicle on the Barkly Highway. One of the passengers was sitting on the centre console when they were caught April 21, the police prosecutor said. 

And the unlicenced driver, Terrence Lee Campbell, had a blood alcohol level of 0.123. 

Sergeant Longhurst said; “drink driving on the highway, you don’t have to look very hard to see what would happen if there was an accident. 

“I presume a young person was on the centre console. 

“It’s lucky the police intercepted rather than another vehicle.” 

Ms Hallam said her client was in Lake Nash that morning and had been drinking but decided to visit Mount Isa after concerned for his mother. 

“There were people on the side of the road who had broken down and he was trying to assist them,” Ms Hallam said. 

“He is now aware such behaviour was not appropriate.” 

Mr Guttridge said that Campbell had been caught drink driving in 2015 with an alcohol reading of 0.148. In 2013 Campbell had a reading of 0.219. 

“I considered a jail term today but I’m not going to,” the magistrate said. Instead Campbell was ordered to pay a $2000 fine. His licence was disqualified for two years.