A man’s actions have been labelled as “quite bizarre” after he attended a service station with a crowbar and torch, demanded cigarettes and left without paying for fuel before handing himself in to authorities.
Matthew William David Lindsay walked into a Chinchilla service station on November 24, 2021 armed with weapons and demanded the attendant hand over a pack of cigarettes.
The court was told the 24-year-old, who was already on a probation order for previous offences, wound up leaving the servo without the cigarettes but with a sausage roll and drove off without paying for his fuel.
Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren said the actions were “really quite bizarre”.
“Police found the car you were described as driving and you sped off only to drive to the Dalby police station and made admissions to the stolen fuel,” he said.
The court also heard Lindsay laid on the ground in front of the police station so officers could arrest him.
Judge Horneman-Wren acknowledged the man’s extensive 10-page criminal history.
Defence barrister Frank Martin submitted a doctor’s report to the court that detailed his client’s schizophrenia diagnosis.
He said Lindsay hadn’t taken medication at the time of the offending and had consumed alcohol which triggered a psychosis.
Judge Horneman-Wren acknowledged the Toowoomba man’s new effort in taking medication regularly.
“It seems you’ve come to the realisation it’s a lifelong medication regimen you will be on,” he said.
“A service station is what we call soft targets as they usually have cash, and in your case they had cigarettes.
“When there’s an attempt to rob (service stations) while armed, the community denounces that.”
Lindsay spent 146 days in pre-sentence custody which was declared as time served.
He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted burglary while armed and one count of fraud.
He was sentenced to 13 months and one week jail, wholly suspended for an operational period of two years for the attempted burglary and sentenced 12 months’ probation for fraud.
Extracted from The Courier Mail