No bail for man accused of ramming car with ute, murder

Laine Clark | April 28, 2023

After allegedly ramming a car off the road, Jonathan Wright has been accused of hitting a fleeing man with his ute before stealing from the prone victim.

Wright, 46, has been charged with a number of offences including murder after Paul Sia died.

The Crown on Friday opposed his bail, alleging Wright deliberately struck a car driven by Mr Sia west of Brisbane in November 2022 after weaving in and out of traffic, travelling in excess of the speed limit.

Wright rammed the car off the road and struck it again on the driver’s side with his ute before Mr Sia and a passenger got out and tried to flee, crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said.

What allegedly occurred next at Withcott, near Toowoomba, was captured on another motorist’s dash cam, the court heard.

“When Mr Sia is fleeing, the applicant directs his vehicle, after doing a big U-turn, to strike him in the centre of more or less the bull bar,” Ms Marco said at Wright’s Brisbane Supreme Court bail application on Friday.

Mr Sia went under the ute after being hit, the court heard.

It was alleged that as Mr Sia was lying injured on the ground Wright got out of his ute and took money that was next to the victim.

He is also accused of then reaching into the victim’s crashed car and stealing items.

Mr Sia later died.

Ms Marco said Wright – who was on bail and parole at the time – then drove the ute to a storage unit before being picked up.

Two hooded men later removed the ute from the secure facility before Wright surrendered to police a day after the incident, she said.

The ute has never been found.

Ms Marco inferred that Wright was involved in the ute’s removal because he had access to the remote needed to open the storage unit’s security gates.

The Crown also alleged Wright suggested to his girlfriend that she provide a false statement in recorded conversations while he was in custody.

Asked by Justice Melanie Hindman to explain Wright’s “incredibly aggressive” phone calls while in custody, defence barrister Andrew Hoare suggested his client was frustrated.

“He obviously has a vile temper,” Justice Hindman said.

The court heard Wright had a criminal history that showed longstanding drug abuse issues, violent offending and bail breaches.

Bail conditions were proposed on Friday that were “effectively imposing a 24-hour curfew” with Wright’s mother offering a $250,000 surety.

“She is obviously supportive of him and has offered a surety which may see her lose her home if the surety was called upon,” Justice Hindman said.

However, Justice Hindman was not satisfied with the proposed conditions and refused bail.

“It appears to be a violent, retaliatory-type offence and callous in its disregard for the welfare of the deceased,” she said.