Brisbane East Archives - Morningside News

Morningside Records 885 Offences as Crime Stoppers Warns Queenslanders About Money Trap Scams

Morningside residents are being encouraged to stay vigilant after new Queensland Police data revealed 885 offences were recorded in the suburb over the past year, while Crime Stoppers Queensland has launched a campaign warning organised crime groups are targeting everyday Australians through fake job offers.

According to the Queensland Police Service crime map, which covers the period 23 July 2025 to 22 July 2026, the largest reported offence category in Morningside was other theft (excluding unlawful entry) with 300 incidents, followed by 141 drug offences and 72 property damage offences.

Theft Remains Morningside’s Largest Reported Offence Category

The latest police data shows theft accounted for around one-third of all reported offences in Morningside during the 12-month reporting period.

Other reported offence categories included:

68 traffic and related offences
63 good order offences
57 assaults
55 unlawful entries
30 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences
26 fraud offences
15 handling stolen goods offences
14 offences against the person
14 trespassing and vagrancy offences
12 weapons act offences
7 miscellaneous offences
5 arson offences
4 robbery offences
2 liquor offences (excluding drunkenness)

Crime statistics provide a snapshot of reported incidents and can help residents better understand local trends. They can also encourage practical steps to improve home, vehicle and personal security.

Statewide Campaign Highlights Organised Crime Recruitment Tactics

Separately, Crime Stoppers Queensland has launched its new Money Trap campaign to raise awareness of how organised crime groups recruit unsuspecting people to help move criminal funds.

The Australian Government-funded campaign warns that criminals are increasingly using fake job advertisements, social media messages and promises of easy money to convince people to receive or transfer money through their personal bank accounts.

Crime Stoppers Queensland CEO David Hansen said many of these approaches appear legitimate, making it easier for people to become involved in criminal activity without fully understanding the consequences.

“Whether it’s a message on social media, an online job advertisement or someone asking to use your bank account, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Mr Hansen said.

While the campaign has a particular focus on helping protect international students and temporary visa holders from exploitation, Mr Hansen said anyone could be approached.

“Anyone can be approached with a money trap,” he said.

“These approaches are designed to look genuine, which is why awareness is our strongest defence.”

Recognising the Warning Signs Can Help Prevent Crime

Crime Stoppers is urging Queenslanders to be cautious of:

Unsolicited job offers promising easy money.
Requests to receive or transfer money through a personal bank account.
Requests to share banking details or allow someone else to use their account.
Pressure to act quickly or keep financial arrangements secret.

Mr Hansen said learning to recognise these warning signs, discussing them with family and friends, and reporting suspicious activity anonymously could make it harder for organised crime groups to operate.

Residents with information about suspicious criminal activity can report it anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 1800 333 000.

While Morningside’s latest police figures show theft, drug offences and property damage were among the suburb’s most frequently reported offences over the past year, the Money Trap campaign also highlights the growing sophistication of organised crime recruitment. By staying informed about both local crime trends and common scam tactics, residents can play an important role in protecting themselves and the wider community.

Published 23-July-2026

Hemmant Ford Falcon Fire Leaves Four Injured After Alleged Hooning Incident

Photo Credit: QPS

A Hemmant hooning allegation has returned to focus after police detailed an earlier Brisbane east incident in which a blue Ford Falcon allegedly caught fire during burnouts, leaving four people seriously injured.

Hemmant Fire Followed Alleged Hooning Activity

A Brisbane east hooning case remains before the courts after an alleged Hemmant burnout incident left four people seriously injured earlier this year.

Police allege that, in the early hours of 8 March, several vehicles were involved in hooning activity across the Brisbane and Moreton areas before gathering at an industrial area in Hemmant.

A blue Ford Falcon was allegedly performing burnouts when the vehicle became engulfed in flames while four occupants were inside. All four occupants sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.

Among those injured was a 20-year-old Woolloongabba man, who sustained a critical leg injury during the fire. He remained in hospital for a month and required multiple surgeries.

Hemmant hooning case — Photo Credit: QPS

Charges Laid After Brisbane East Incident

Following investigations, a 24-year-old Woombye man was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing grievous bodily harm, driving while disqualified by court order, and unlawful conduct involving participation in hooning group activity.

Police allege the man was driving the vehicle at the time of the Hemmant incident. He is due to reappear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on 25 May.

A 20-year-old Kingston man was also charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and driving without a driver licence. He is expected to reappear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on 18 May.

The charges relate to an incident police have used to highlight the serious risks linked to alleged hooning behaviour, particularly when vehicles are used for burnouts in public or industrial areas.

Hemmant Case Cited Amid Wider Hooning Crackdown

The Hemmant incident was raised alongside Operation X-Ray Antler, a separate long weekend police operation that disrupted an alleged hooning event across Brisbane and Ipswich between 2 and 3 May.

That operation resulted in eight people being charged, 66 traffic infringement notices being issued and two Ford Falcons being seized. Police said the more recent operation was part of ongoing efforts to detect, disrupt and take enforcement action against hooning offences.

While the Hemmant case is separate from the long weekend operation, it provides a stark example of the injury risks police associate with alleged hooning activity.

Investigations connected to the wider hooning enforcement work remain ongoing, with police continuing targeted action across Brisbane and nearby districts.

Published 7-May-2026

Crime Stoppers Launches Copper Theft Campaign at Murarrie Recreation Reserve to Protect Brisbane’s Community Spaces

Crime Stoppers

Crime Stoppers Queensland launched its new Copper Theft Campaign at Murarrie Recreation Reserve on 26 March 2026, targeting a surge in incidents that has stripped lighting towers, irrigation systems and electrical infrastructure from sporting fields, schools and community facilities across Brisbane, often leaving them unusable for weeks or months at a time.

The campaign marks the most coordinated community response yet to a problem that has been building across southeast Queensland for nearly a decade. New signage installed at the reserve and other high-risk sites across Brisbane forms the visible part of the campaign, but the deeper ambition is to shift community behaviour by normalising the reporting of suspicious activity around electrical infrastructure before thieves can complete their work.

A Problem That Has Been Escalating for Years

Copper theft across Queensland has grown from a niche criminal activity into a widespread and highly damaging pattern of offending. Energy Queensland reported more than 500 incidents of copper theft on Queensland’s electricity networks since 2017-18, with the number rising from 40 incidents in that year to 170 in 2022-23, an increase of more than 325 per cent. On average, one copper theft incident now occurs every two days across Queensland’s electricity networks.

Copper Theft Campaign — Photo Credit: Crime Stoppers

The problem extends well beyond the electricity network into the community sport and recreation sector. Mitchelton FC lost three kilometres of copper wiring from its sporting fields in 2023, with replacement costs estimated at over $100,000. Northside Christian FC in Bridgeman Downs was targeted four times in a single month, losing five kilometres of copper wiring at a cost of approximately $80,000. These are not isolated cases. Across Brisbane and the Moreton Bay region, junior sporting clubs, schools and community facilities have faced the same pattern: thieves arrive after dark, strip the copper from lighting towers or electrical pits, and disappear before anyone notices. The facility is then out of action until expensive repairs are completed.

The financial and community toll extends beyond repair costs. Stolen copper wiring has caused power outages affecting businesses, schools and hospitals, disrupted telecommunications, and left streets and sporting fields in darkness for extended periods. In the most serious cases, thieves have attempted to cut live high-voltage cables, creating life-threatening risks for themselves and nearby residents.

A Local Space That Brings the Community Together

Murarrie Recreation Reserve is a multi-use facility serving the communities of Murarrie and Morningside, offering cycling and inline skating tracks, a skate park, basketball courts, walking paths, playgrounds and a swimming pool. The reserve draws families, cyclists, skaters and sport groups from across Brisbane’s inner east and sits on the Bulimba Creek Bikeway, making it a well-used active recreation corridor throughout the week.

Choosing the reserve as the launch site for the Copper Theft Campaign reflects both its status as a repeatedly targeted location and its role as a genuinely community-focused space where the human cost of copper theft is immediately apparent. When copper thieves strip wiring from lighting infrastructure, families using the reserve after dark, cycling clubs running early morning sessions and children attending after-school programs bear the consequences.

Stronger Laws Now in Force

The campaign aligns with new Queensland legislation introducing tougher penalties for copper theft offenders, including new offences covering attempted theft and possession of suspected stolen metal. In cases where the theft endangers lives or disrupts critical infrastructure, offenders now face the possibility of life imprisonment. The legislative changes close a gap the state has recognised for several years, bringing Queensland into line with other eastern seaboard states that have reduced copper theft by introducing registered scrap metal trader requirements and banning cash transactions.

Crime Stoppers Queensland CEO David Hansen, speaking at the Murarrie launch, described the community impact clearly: the real victims of copper theft are the children and families who lose access to the sporting fields, parks and schools they rely on, alongside the volunteers and club officials who invest enormous effort into maintaining those spaces only to see them damaged overnight by opportunistic thieves.

How Morningside and Murarrie Residents Can Help

The Copper Theft Campaign rests on a simple premise: that community members are often the first to notice something is wrong. Unusual activity around lighting towers, electrical cabinets, irrigation pits or any other infrastructure containing copper, especially at night or in the early hours, is worth reporting. Crime Stoppers Queensland guarantees full anonymity for every report it receives.

For emergencies or crimes in progress, call 000 immediately. To report suspicious behaviour anonymously, contact Crime Stoppers Queensland on 1800 333 000 or submit a report online at crimestoppersqld.com.au. If you notice exposed wiring or damaged facilities at Murarrie Recreation Reserve or any other Brisbane site, keep clear of the area and call 07 3403 8888.

Published 27-March-2026.