Man who used a rope to drag a woman to a car before assaulting her will remain free after a state government’s failed bid to extend his ‘manifestly inadequate’ sentence

A state government has failed to prove a man accused of using a rope to drag a woman to a car was handed a ‘manifestly inadequate’ sentence.

The Queensland government had sought to increase Brock Andrew McDonald’s sentence after he was jailed for assaulting and depriving the liberty of a young woman in October 2023.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years on parole in December, with 413 days as time served.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said in January that in her view, the sentence did not meet community standards and was ‘manifestly inadequate’.

McDonald, 44, is alleged to have put a rope around a young woman’s neck before dragging her into a car in the early hours of the morning.

He placed the screaming woman in the back seat while repeatedly telling her not to look at his face. 

She eventually escaped the car and hid in a nearby bush before calling for help.

McDonald had pleaded guilty to charges of deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm.

In the appeal, the attorney-general had sought McDonald’s sentence to be increased to no less than three years for the deprivation of liberty charge.

The attorney-general’s counsel submitted that the Court of Appeal should conclude the sentence was ‘unreasonable and plainly unjust’ and was so far outside the range of sentences that an error must have occurred.

But the Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed the case, finding the attorney-general could not demonstrate the sentence was manifestly inadequate or that an error had occurred.

The judges said the prosecution launched the appeal with the ‘fundamental misconception’ that sentences for kidnapping offences were comparable in McDonald’s case on a deprivation of liberty charge.

The appeal court referenced the sentencing judge’s ruling on the basis that the prosecution had not sought to prove intent that is required for a charge of kidnapping.

The prosecution instead pursued deprivation of liberty, which holds a lesser maximum sentence.

The appeal judges said the attorney general ‘ignored the consequences’ of the prosecution’s choices in framing the charges of deprivation of liberty instead of kidnapping, which McDonald pleaded guilty to.

‘The argument presented on behalf of the attorney-general fails to demonstrate that the sentence was manifestly inadequate,’ the appeal judges ruled.

Ms Frecklington expressed her disappointment over the outcome.

‘This sentence was appealed because I did not believe it met community expectations,’ she said in a statement.

‘I am disappointed in the outcome and my thoughts remain with the victim and her family.’