Stuart Shearer, aka ‘Judge Dread’, vacates his position in Emerald after he was accused of improperly influencing a case

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A controversial Queensland magistrate vacated his country court circuit after he was accused of improperly influencing a case by contacting a witness due to testify before him.

Stuart Shearer, who was one of a number of contentious legal appointments by the former Newman government, drew the complaint from lawyers representing an Indigenous defendant who faced Woorabinda magistrates court earlier this year.



The magistrate, whose reputation for tough treatment of offenders led to a newspaper calling him “Judge Dread”, recused himself from the case.

He was later repeatedly spoken to and given “advice” after the complaint reached the state’s chief magistrate, Ray Rinaudo.



Shearer has finished his stint in Emerald, central Queensland, several months early and is now hearing matters in Brisbane because of what Rinaudo said was “an ongoing medical issue”.



The complaint stemmed from a telephone call Shearer allegedly made to a duty solicitor who was to be called to give evidence in a hearing as to why the Indigenous defendant, charged with various property offences, should be allowed to change a plea of guilty.



The duty solicitor had indicated the guilty plea when first appearing for the defendant.



Another solicitor from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal service (Atsils) in Rockhampton told Shearer at the next hearing she wished to vacate the plea as she had learned there was a defence to the charges.



Shearer ordered that she call evidence, which was to include testimony from the first lawyer.



The magistrate subsequently telephoned that lawyer, giving rise to the complaint.



The nature of a magistrate’s role in Queensland, where there is no judicial commission, is such that they do not face any kind of formal disciplinary mechanism but can receive mentoring from a senior colleague.



Rinaudo told Guardian Australia in a statement that he was “satisfied the issue has been dealt with”.



“Magistrate Shearer had already recused himself from the [Woorabinda court] matter when he first alerted me to it. I spoke to him about the issue and provided advice,” Rinaudo said.



“I subsequently received the oral complaint. I and one of my deputy magistrates had further conversations with magistrate Shearer about the complaint.”



Rinaudo said Shearer was to end his two-year stint at Emerald in June but “due to an ongoing medical issue he is currently sitting in Brisbane”.



“His future working obligations will be subject to medical advice,” he said.



Shearer declined to comment. Atsils’ Queensland director, Shane Duffy, did not respond to requests for comment.

It is not the first controversy to arise during Shearer’s career on the bench since his 2012 appointment by the former attorney general, Jarrod Bleijie.

Shearer was appointed from the same barristers’ chambers that contained the future chief justice, Tim Carmody, a future magistrate and husband of Bleijie staffer, Aaron Simpson, and a former Bleijie adviser, Ryan Haddrick.



That run of appointments from the John Gerrard chambers earned it the nickname “the magical chambers” in the Brisbane legal scene.



In 2013, a top QC made submissions on behalf of his client to Shearer that he had acted unlawfully by ordering the QC’s client, a court bystander, into custody for four hours without charge after she allegedly verbally abused the magistrate. The woman later apologised through her QC “for her outburst”, which was accepted by the magistrate and she was released without charge.

Shearer was called “Judge Dread” by the Courier-Mail last month when it reported that his tough stance towards offenders meant “defence lawyers loathe him but police love him”.

