Return to jail on rumour

UPON hearing that the police were looking for him, a teenage parolee had “gone off the rails” and returned to drug use and offending leading to him being returned to jail – only to find out later that police were not looking for him at all, a Toowoomba court has heard.

Having been released from jail, Braydon Hearn had moved in with a cousin in Ipswich, was addressing his drug issues and getting his life on track, his solicitor Amber Acreman told Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Friday.

However, after hearing that police wanted to speak with him about a particular matter, the 19-year-old “went off the rails” and got back into drugs, she said.

The thing is, police were not looking to speak with him at all, Ms Acreman said.

The 19-year-old appeared via video link from Borallon Correctional Centre on Friday to plead guilty before the court to a total of 19 offences including possessing methylamphetamine, five counts of unlawfully using motor vehicles, two counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary, evading police, fraud, stealing, shoplifting and one count of assaulting police.

Police prosecutor Bettina Trenear submitted the two burglaries of homes in the Upper Lockyer region were the most serious of Hearn’s offences and that he had been jailed for four months by the same court for similar offending in 2021.

These latest offences were committed while he was on parole for previous matters and Hearn had a full-time release date from prison on his current sentence of November 22, she said.

Ms Acreman said her client had endured a “disadvantaged upbringing” during which time he had been exposed to criminal activity and drug use by family members.

Hearn had started using cannabis at the age of 12 and by 14 he was using a “litany” of drugs, she said.

Upon release from jail this time, Hearn intended to return to live with family in Ipswich and get help for his drug issues to get his life back on track, Ms Acreman said.

Magistrate Clare Kelly declared the 108 days of pre-sentence custody as time already served and sentenced Hearn to nine months in jail but ordered he be eligible to apply for parole immediately.