By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Mayor Vic Pennisi sent a letter on behalf of Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) to various people in positions of power asking for “an inquiry into the judicial system and the inadequate punishments imposed for drug, alcohol and other serious offences”.
The letter was sent to The Honourable Mark Ryan MP, Minister for Police and Corrective Services and Minister for Fire and Emergency Services.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, The Honourable Shannon Fentiman, and Member for Southern Downs, James Lister, were also included in the correspondence.
SDRC moved a resolution at its Ordinary Council Meeting held on 25 May 2022 to write a letter requesting an inquiry into the judicial system and the inadequate punishments imposed for drug, alcohol and other serious offences.
In the letter, Mayor Pennisi wrote that “this resolution follows a recent judgement made in the Warwick District Court in relation to an offender who was on probation for “deliberately reckless driving”, with what was described as a “cocktail of drugs in his system” drove through a stop sign killing a respected Warwick identity, Greg Newey, and leaving Greg’s wife fighting for life.
“The offender, who had been in custody since September 2020, pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving while adversely affected by a drug causing death and grievous bodily harm, and leaving the scene. He was sentenced to eight years in jail, however he will be eligible for parole in May 2023.
“Our Southern Downs community, like numerous other communities across Queensland, are questioning our judicial system, and the decisions that it is making and the penalties that are being imposed on convicted criminals.
“It may be that we need to focus on the cause and not the effect, however at this point in time we, as a Council and on behalf of our community, are calling for a full inquiry into our judicial system and the inadequate punishments imposed, particularly for drug, alcohol and other serious offences.”
In the meeting on 25 May, Cr Cynthia McDonald expressed her disappointment with the result in court, stating “this individual killed a family man and seriously injured his wife.”
“These are innocent people’s lives that were torn apart.”
She stated that she believed the “scourge of drugs and drug-related offences in our community” needs to be met with harsher penalties and proposed that Council write a letter to the relevant people in higher positions of power.
Cr Sheryl Windle stated that she fully supported this suggestion, stating she thinks “we’re all shocked at the outcome” of the case.
“It’s not the outcome that we were hopeful of.”
She stated that “if you do wrong you’ve got to suffer the consequences and unfortunately it’s the people who have been aggrieved in this that are suffering the consequences not the person who created the accident in the first place”.
Cr Stephen Tancred stated that “society’s expectations are out of sync with the current laws and the implementation of them” and that he believed Member for Southern Downs, James Lister, would be receptive to a letter.
Cr Ross Bartley stated that while this was a state-managed issue, many in our community are passionate about this.
He stated that there have been multiple instances of sentences that the community may feel do not fit the crime.
“People are getting off and reoffending because of the light sentences in some situations,” he said.
“But all we can do is convey our concerns to the powers that be in those state positions. And hopefully, they take notice of us as a Council.”
Finally, Cr McDonald stated that “a man lost his life and this particular individual may walk out on parole in 12 months of the sentence being brought down”.
“That concerns me greatly.”
Member for Southern Downs, James Lister, was contacted after the meeting for a comment regarding the case.
He stated he had not read the full judgement for the case and was cautious about making a statement without seeing this.
However, Mr Lister stated that he had an “inclination to be critical” of the sentence.
He said from a community point of view, part of the sentence should be ensuring defendants are not back on the streets and able to re-offend.
“For that reason, the sentence imposed appears, without having seen the judgement, to be inadequate given the loss of a beloved community member and the serious impacts on his widow”.
Mr Lister said he has been very critical of the handling of youth justice in Goondiwindi and Warwick.
“Society needs protection from offenders,” he said.
He stated earlier this week that he thinks society is getting tired of seeing people not being held to account for their actions.
“The Hamers case concerns me and it seems emblematic of where our criminal justice system is failing,” he said.
“This guy killed a much-beloved person in our community and badly injured his wife, yet his sentence will see Hamers eligible for parole by this time next year.
“I think that’s too lenient, and it is a great discourtesy to the memory of the good man Greg Newey.
“Hamers chose to take drugs, he chose to drive recklessly, and he killed Greg Newey.
“Hamers should face serious consequences for those choices.
“As our community’s elected state representative, people tell me that the consequences on Brock Hamers are insufficient, and I completely agree with the community on this.”
