Three South West criminals sentenced to jail terms

Bunbury 20-year-old Christopher Robert Bekkers was placed on an 18-month intensive supervision order in June 2015 after committing an aggravated burglary when he was 18 years old. 

The original sentencing judge told Bekkers re-offending would likely see him incarcerated. Judge Bekkers said it appeared the message didn’t get through. 

Bekkers and an accomplice broke into Bunbury’s Silverchain headquarters in Carey Park while under the influence of methamphetamine but didn’t steal anything. Judge Derrick said Bekkers had a serious risk of re-offending and sentenced him to 18 months jail with eligibility for parole after nine months. 

Collie man Mark William James Smith, 37, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary with an offence committed in a dwelling. 

The court was told Smith spent a night drinking after a break-up before smashing a window to gain access to a woman’s house. While inside the house, he grabbed the woman around the throat.

Judge Derrick said Smith knew he had drunk to excess and went to the house looking for trouble. 

“Children were asleep in the home along with a scared and vulnerable woman,” he said. “Any offence that involves entering a person’s home and committing an act of violence is inherently very serious.”

Smith, who had a domestic violence-related conviction in 2005, was sentenced to 22 months jail with eligibility for parole after 11 months. 

Judge Derrick also sent Busselton man Blake Johnson to prison after he “failed to use the opportunity a previous judge gave him to turn his life around”. 

Johnson was convicted in May 2015 of wilfully lighting a fire in June 2014 and sentenced to 12 months jail. The sentence was suspended for 12 months to give Johnson a chance to engage in drug rehabilitation in a bid to get his life back on track. 

While on the order he failed a number of court ordered drug tests, failed to appear in court when summonsed and spat on the mouth of a female police officer while being arrested, causing her to have a number of blood tests. 

Johnson was jailed for a total of 12 months and fined $600 dollars for his offences. He will be eligible for parole after six months behind bars.