A BROTHERS' road trip to Cairns that turned into a crime spree and a manhunt across state borders has been likened to a male version of Thelma and Louise.

Brenton McGee, 30, and Allan Charles McGee, 27, were each jailed for four years yesterday after pleading guilty in Cairns District Court to a string of offences including the knife hold-up of a Smithfield video shop attendant, theft of a getaway vehicle, break-in of an IGA store and attempted theft of an automatic teller machine.

The court heard the pair abandoned their ute carrying two loaded unregistered firearms –… a sawn-off .303 calibre bolt-action shotgun and .300 rifle – ammo, knives, camouflage clothes and balaclavas after crashing it during a high-speed police chase near Atherton in November 2008.

They eventually surrendered to police in South Australia in February 2009 after taking a four-wheel-drive from Pacific Toyota for a test-drive and never not returning it.

The Adelaide brothers, one an electrician whose business had failed, the other a telecommunications technician whose work had also dried up, came to the Far North to look for new jobs in the mines and go hunting and camping, their barristers said.

References from their mother and an older brother supported the argument that the pair, who had no criminal records in either South Australia or Queensland, had acted "completely out of character", Judge Bill Everson said.

"It seems to have been a Thelma and Louise-type episode which has occurred after both of you found your businesses or employment circumstances jeopardised by the global financial crisis," Mr Everson said.

"This led you to undertake a road trip to Queensland looking for work which proved ultimately unsuccessful and led to you engaging in a crime spree."

Allan McGee was also separately charged with bringing a stolen hire trailer into Queensland from South Australia and passing a valueless cheque for $1000 worth of goods including a generator, rope and trolley at a Central Queensland hardware store on October 3, 2008, which he used a few weeks later to try to steal the ATM at Smithfield’s Campus Express IGA store.

"That (theft of the ATM) was unsuccessful as it was screwed to the floor so it was a somewhat amateur attempt," Crown prosecutor Bob English said.

The brothers instead made off with $300 worth of sweets which they took to their campsite and ate, Mr English said.

Their spree continued with the theft of the 2004 Toyota LandCruiser on October 29 and armed robbery of about $1000 cash from the Smithfield Civic Video store on November 1.

The brothers will be eligible for parole in June next year.

• Police hunt wanted brothers

Share this article