The Proserpine Court House
The Proserpine Court House Peter Carruthers

Married last week, jail this week

"SO I'M going to jail today?” a Bowen man, who was only married last week, asked as he put his head in his hands when he heard Magistrate Ron Muirhead's sentencing on Monday.

IT took Anthony Brian Matthews being arrested to show up to Proserpine Magistrates Court to plead guilty to multiple charges since the start of the year including trespass, breach of bail and public nuisance.

Police prosecutor sergeant Sabine Scott told the court Matthews was on parole on January 8 when he was found on the Queens Beach Holiday Park CCTV footage acting suspiciously around the time a flat screen television was stolen.

The television was later recovered and the 29-year-old was not charged with the theft but when questioned by police could not name anyone at the park he said he was visiting to get smokes off.

It was on the afternoon of February 15 concerned drivers called police about Matthews walking along the Bruce Hwy and stepping into the road of on-coming traffic, trying to hitch hike to Whitsunday Tourist Park in Bloomsbury.

Sgt Scott told the court later that afternoon police were called to the holiday park where the Collinsville Solar Farm worker was abusing another person in the park and threatening to burn down their cabin.

"Police found him in the office of the park and he tried to run from police but was apprehended with the assistance of the park manager,” Sgt Scott said.

Matthews also failed to appear for two court appearances in Proserpine and Bowen as well as failed to sign into the register at the police station as part of his bail undertaking.

Duty lawyer Elizabeth Smith said the father-of-one was affected by pain medication for cracked ribs and self-medicating with alcohol when he behaved erratically in Bloomsbury.

Ms Smith told the court in January Matthews was visiting a friend he had made at the pub for more cigarettes when he went to Queens Beach Holiday Village.

"He instructs me for the breach of bail, he did attend the police station at the time and didn't have his ID with him and to sign in needed more ID checks. He waited for half an hour and then just left, it is not the case it was an overt disregard for bail, he did attempt to comply,” she said.

For the missed court appearances, Matthews was said to have been working on a fishing charter and admitted he should have planned ahead.

"Because of his job he is drug tested regularly and has given up smoking cannabis and other substances and is using alcohol as a 'crutch' if you will,” Ms Smith said.

Magistrate Ron Muirhead sighted Matthews lengthy poor Queensland and inter-state history with bail offences when he stated "he has pretty much exhausted all the options which are available to court really.”

Matthews was sentenced to one month imprisonment for the trespass, one month for the public nuisance charge to be served and seven days jail for failing to appear in court all to be served concurrently.

Matthews received two months jail for the breach of bail to serve consecutively which means he will serve two months of imprisonment with a parole date to be decided by the parole board.

"You only have no person to blame but yourself- your history and behaviour is terrible,” Mr Muirhead said.

Convictions were recorded.


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