A crime spree in which a man was involved in a $41,000 jewellery heist, fuel drive-offs, an incident in which he fired a gun in the air and later led police on a chase has been revealed in court.
Marlee Curtis Leonard, 23, pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, three counts of fraud, breaking and entering at premises with stealing, possessing a firearm, threatening violence, dangerous operation of vehicle, evading police, driving without a licence and obstructing a police officer when he faced Maryborough District Court on Monday.
The court heard Leonard had been involved in a number of offences in March, April and May 2022.
He had been a passenger in stolen vehicles and had been involved in a number of fuel drive-offs, the court was told.
On March 26 and 27, 2022, a Nissan vehicle which had been stolen was driven to Coles Express service station at Gympie, the court heard.
Marlee Kurtis Leonard, 23.
Leonard was captured on CCTV filling the car with fuel to the amount of $50.98 and not paying for it.
That car was abandoned in Granville and Leonard’s fingerprints were later located on it.
On April 11, 2022, a Toyota Landcruiser was stolen.
The vehicle was driven to the Caltex service station in Hervey Bay and Leonard filled it with diesel to the value of $182.59 and then drove off, with the incident also being captured on CCTV.
The next day he drove to a service station in Maryborough where he filled the car up with $240.32 worth of fuel before driving off.
The car was later located by police on April 13, 2022, having been involved in a crash.
On April 14, 2022, a car was stolen and driven to Gympie, at some stage coming into Leonard’s possession, the court heard.
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On April 20, 2022, the vehicle was driving to Goodyear Jewellers in Gympie, the court heard.
Inside the car was Leonard and three other people.
Leonard and another man tried to smash their way inside the store with hammers but were unsuccessful.
They then used the vehicle to ram raid the store and enter, the court heard.
A person working at a nearby florist saw what was happening and called the police.
Leonard and the others used the hammers to smash the glass cabinets and stole watches and jewellery valued at more than $41,000.
The damage to the store amounted to more than $5000.
Leonard’s fingerprint was found inside a display cabinet at the store.
Police later recovered jewellery valued at more than $20,000 and the stolen vehicle was found burnt out at Point Vernon.
The car chase ended on the Lamington Bridge, with Marlee Curtis Leonard jumping into the Mary River to avoid arrest.
On May 2, 2022, Leonard had used a sawn-off shotgun to threaten a neighbour while he was staying at a friend’s home and he had fired the gun in the air, the court heard.
He had then been involved in a police pursuit during which he crashed into an unmarked police car, failed to stop at red lights and stop signs, reached speeds of 100km in a 60km/h zone and drove on the wrong side of the road.
Leonard had thrown the shotgun out of the car during the pursuit, the court heard.
He then jumped from the Lamington Bridge into the Mary River, swimming in the Mary River for about 30 minutes before surrendering to police.
Leonard had never held a driver’s licence, the court heard.
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He was one of nine siblings and his parents lived in Maryborough.
Leonard had completed a certificate 2 in Infrastructure and had previously worked as a kitchen hand, as a concreter and in farming.
He intended to live in Maryborough with his partner upon his release, the court heard.
Judge Anthony Rafter said it was clear Leonard had a drug problem, which had been managed while he was in prison.
Leonard was given a head sentence of four years in prison, with a parole eligibility date on September 26, 2023, taking into account time he had already served.
He was disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for two years.