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General News

12 January, 2023

Former taxi driver issued stern warning over CCO compliance

A former Maryborough taxi driver has been told he will be sent to jail if he fails to complete a Community Corrections Order (CCO), which was imposed after he pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault. Ian Sewell fronted the Maryborough...

By Riley Upton

Former taxi driver issued stern warning over CCO compliance - feature photo

A former Maryborough taxi driver has been told he will be sent to jail if he fails to complete a Community Corrections Order (CCO), which was imposed after he pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault.

Ian Sewell fronted the Maryborough Magistrates’ Court yesterday to hear a progress report on his CCO, which he was placed on in February last year.

The CCO was served, along with a conviction and lifetime induction onto the Sex Offenders Register, after the 69-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault and four counts of sexual assault against four separate victims.

At yesterday’s hearing, it was revealed that while Mr Sewell had served almost 12 months of his 18-month CCO, he had completed only 50 hours of community work out of the required 175, and these hours were credited as a result of treatments and courses he’d undertaken since sentencing.

Mr Sewell’s defence lawyer, David Hewitt, told the court his client was finding it difficult to accept his sentence.

“Mr Sewell is finding it difficult to accept what’s happened to him,” he said.

“This is not a mental health issue, it’s a matter of having to explain to him what has happened with the plea of guilty and the fact that the victims are victims.

“He’s really not understanding how it all fits into place and the end result is this pushback.”

Mr Sewell’s progress on his CCO was discussed in court in December, where Magistrate Sharon McRae threatened a term of imprisonment if the corrections order was not completed.

Speaking yesterday, Magistrate McRae said Mr Sewell’s lack of progress in his CCO was “offensive” to the victims.

“He pleads guilty to the charges and continues to say [the victims] are a pack of liars, it’s highly offensive to the victims in this matter,” she said.

“When he pleaded guilty, he accepted he was guilty of wrongdoing.

“He was in a position of trust as a taxi driver and his offending was repetitive against numerous victims.

“He got, in my view, a very light penalty in a CCO and all he’s done is just snuffed it and said ‘the justice system can go jump, I’m not going to do anything’.”

The court heard Mr Sewell’s CCO program was due to resume on January 17, with Magistrate McRae adjourning the matter to February 9 to allow Mr Sewell to make progress.

She said the adjournment was his “last glimmer of hope”, as failure to comply would result in a term of imprisonment.

“I’m going to give you this last opportunity but let me be very clear, if you don’t do your CCO in an appropriate manner between now and February 9, I am going to put you in jail,” she said.

“I was prepared to jail you today, I’ll be prepared to jail you on the ninth as well. There is no other choice for the court.

“Age is no barrier to going to jail, it’s all about the offence and these offences are jailable — this is your last glimmer of hope.”

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