No more jail for fake soldier: judge
A Queensland man who lied about being a soldier and fire fighter during a trial over a bikie fight will walk free.
Former trainee car salesman Peter James Andrews, 51, pleaded guilty to impersonating a soldier and perverting the course of justice in the District Court in Brisbane on Wednesday.
When Andrews was on trial in December for his passive involvement in a mass bikie brawl, his lawyer told a court he'd served in the army and the Special Air Service, including stints in Somalia and Bougainville.
His lawyer also claimed Andrews served in the Rural Fire Service and battled blazes around Tenterfield, NSW, in 2009.
But he was later charged after both claims were found to be untrue.
Andrews's defence team told the court their client had already been held in custody for 224 days since he was first charged in January.
During that time he was subject to a special bikies-only regime where he was kept in his cell for 18 hours a day and denied visitation rights.
Judge Keirnan Dorney agreed that it was a "more intense way of serving".
The judge accepted Andrews had actually served in the Rural Fire Service, but not in Tenterfield, and that he'd joined the army briefly but was deemed unfit to serve and discharged.
"You are in a sense a civically-minded person," Judge Dorney remarked.
He ordered Andrews to 15 months' jail for impersonating a soldier, but said the 224 days already spent in custody would count as time served.
He received no punishment for perverting the course of justice.
Andrews will be released on Wednesday.
