A drug-addled man who spent three months behind bars after reversing his car into the gates of the Brisbane Synagogue has had his hate crime charge dropped by police due to his level of intoxication.
The February 20 incident made global headlines and was widely condemned as an anti-Semitic “ramming attack”, and the driver was charged with wilful damage in aggravating circumstances of a hate crime, dangerous operation of a vehicle, and drug offences.
Queensland Police Acting Superintendent Michael Hogan said at the time that the incident was “definitely a targeted attack against the Jewish synagogue” and confirmed counter-terrorism officers had been brought in before terror was ruled out as a motive.
Libby Bourke, vice-president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies called the incident “deeply distressing” and an “attack on all of us”, while Premier David Crisafulli called it “very concerning” and said it justified new hate speech laws that were passed two week later.
Matthew Alexander Donald de Campo, 32, spent 83 days on remand before being released to undergo drug rehabilitation in May, and last week appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court, which heard that officers observed that he was “cray cray” on drugs on the night, The Courier Mail reported.
Police prosecutors withdrew the hate crime element of the wilful damage charge in court, and told Magistrate Megan Power that de Campo was too intoxicated to form a motivation of hatred or serious contempt for a group of people.
The dangerous operation of a vehicle charge was also dropped, and de Campo pleaded guilty to wilful damage, and possession of methamphetamine and a drug pipe.
The court heard de Campo began using cannabis and meth after having spinal fusion surgery as a result of a workplace injury suffered in 2019, but has made significant progress since being admitted to rehab.
Magistrate Power told de Campo in sentencing that the incident, which caused $12,000 worth of damage to the synagogue gates, would have been terrifying for the Jewish community as it occurred two months after the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack.
“There’s no question this would have been a frightening and disturbing act for the Jewish community, particularly at the time,”’ she told him.
“Clearly you were in a very poor state in terms of your mental health. That was apparent to police. You appeared to be delusional and paranoid.”
She sentenced de Campo to six months’ imprisonment for the wilful damage charge with immediate parole, after declaring the 83 days he had spent in custody as time served.
Header image: CCTV footage of the incident (Queensland Police).
