THUG BACK ON STREETS

READERS will remember Chase Danny Peter Brooks. He was the no-hoper who threatened to “dog shot’’ a magistrate last year.

His girlfriend had been taken to the cells for a few hours because she swore loudly in court while Brooks was appearing on drug matters.

For the uninitiated, a dog shot involves striking someone from behind, so when Brooks mouthed off to a duty lawyer that he would in effect coward punch the magistrate if he ever saw him outside of court, that threat landed him back in trouble.

When another magistrate dealt with Brooks for making the threat and sentenced him to three days jail, the Bulletin described Brooks’s behaviour as abhorrent and gutless. It also saddened us that the penalty was lumped in with time he had already served while locked away on separate matters.

Yesterday Brooks was convicted on a much more serious charge. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, stemming from an incident in April last year when he punched and kicked a man who had been knocked to the ground, resulting in the victim losing consciousness and being left with the back of his skull caved in. The Southport District Court heard that Glenn Knappen’s brain was exposed, such was the extent of the injury.

Knappen was stunned by the result of the case yesterday. He looked close to tears because Brooks was handed a threemonth jail sentence which was suspended, allowing him to walk free on immediate parole. He had served just 30 days in presentence custody.

Brooks, who had been on bail for the drug matter when the bashing occurred, looked unfazed as he left the court yesterday.

The justice system is often a mystery for the public. Many will be left wondering how Brooks was able to be back on the streets so soon.