JURY ABUSED AFTER ROBBER JAILED

A TOWNSVILLE thief verbally abused jurors after he was sentenced to four years in jail for stealing $ 12,000 from a safe.

A jury in Townsville District Court yesterday found Aaron Richard Forster, 37, guilty of breaking into a home on Magnetic Island and stealing $ 12,000 from a safe in M March last year.

Forster yelled abuse at jurors who had returned to the courtroom to watch him being sentenced after delivering their guilty verdict.

“You f*** ing scum,” he yelled as he was led out of the courtroom by Corrective Services guards.

During sentencing, it was revealed Forster had an extensive criminal history, including 27 fraud offences, 10 break and enter offences, three counts of robbery with violence, 10 counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and five stealing offences.

Crown Prosecutor Amanda Payne told the court Forster was also on parole for other property offences when he stole the money from the safe.

“He has an extensive criminal history,” she said.

“He offended while on parole and has shown no remorse.

“He is a recidivist property offender.”

Forster had visited the Magnetic Island home in the weeks before the offence when the daughter of the homeowner held a party.

Forster’s blood was found on a doona in the bedroom where the safe was located in pieces in a suitcase hidden under a bed, which was a key piece of evidence during the trial. Forster claimed that the blood must have come from a pre- existing leg injury which he bumped against the bed during the earlier house party.

His partner cried as his sentence was read out and tried to hug him before the pair were separated by guards.

Defence barrister Vivian Keegan said her client had struggled with a drug addiction from an early age and he planned to live with his mother when released from prison.

Judge Clive Wall said Forster had 12 pages of criminal history. “You are a serial recidivist,” he said. “The community needs to be protected from someone like you.”

Judge Wall sentenced Forster to four years in prison. He will be eligible for parole on April 1, 2017, after serving 95 days in pre- sentence custody.

You are a

serial recidivist. The community needs to be protected from someone

like you JUDGE CLIVE WALL