Of nearly 70 people arrested and charged in the Tweed Byron Police District last week, more than one in five was accused of domestic violence crimes.
Local police say that over the past week (13–20 May), 69 people were charged with a total of 119 criminal offences, consisting of 72 different offence types. Two persons were charged on multiple occasions. A summary follows:
• Domestic Violence: 13 males and 2 females were charged with domestic violence related offences, with offences including Intentionally choke etc person with recklessness, contravening apprehended violence orders (11), and stalking and intimidation.
• Traffic: 47 traffic related offences, including driving whilst disqualified (All 4 were repeat offenders) or suspended (5), never having held a licence (3)driving under the influence of drugs (4) or with a prescribed concentration of alcohol (7), Police pursuit (2), displaying false plates (2), not having an interlock device fitted (1), negligent driving (3).
• Property: 14 charges for property offences, stolen motor vehicles, shoplifting, larceny, and possessing goods suspected of being stolen.
• Drugs: 7 people charged for drug offences, including offences for possessing steroids and other restricted substances.
• Weapons: 1 person was charged with a firearms offence, 1 with a weapons offence, and 1 person with possession of a knife.
• Sexual: 1 person charged with sexual assault, and 1 with obscene exposure.
Significant arrests
• A 45-year-old male from Tweed Heads West was charged Graffiti after being detected by Police defacing one of the painted walls of the Information Centre, Wharf Street, Tweed Heads. He is due to appear at the Tweed Heads Local Court on 1 June 2026.
• A 46-year-old male from Brunswick Heads was charged with possessing drugs, possessing an unauthorised firearm, and having goods suspected of being stolen following a search warrant at his residence. Internal bedrooms in the house had been individually fortified with padlocks and screen doors. The male was not present and has not since been located, and as such a court date has yet to be established.
• A 47-year-old female from Bogangar was charged with negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and failing to stop and assist after an impact causing injury after an incident along Tweed Coast Road, Cudgen in late April 2026. After both drivers stopped to exchange details, the female’s vehicle rolled forward, pinning the other driver between the vehicles. A bystander was forced to enter the woman’s vehicle to free the trapped male. The female then re-entered her vehicle and left the scene. She was later spoken to by Police and is due to appear at the Tweed Heads Local Court on 29 June 2026.
• A 33-year-old male of no fixed place in the Murwillumbah area has been charged with breaking into a unit complex in Casuarina and cutting a chain securing an e-bike. He stole the e-bike and left behind a pedal powered bicycle.
• A 56-year-old male from Brunswick Heads was charged with publicly threatening violence on the grounds of race, stalking/intimidation, and wilful and obscene exposure from two separate incidents, the first being after leaving a licensed premises in Brunswick Heads, and the second being an antisemitic incident at a café in Byron Bay. A personal violence order was obtained for the protection of a community member, and the male remains bail refused to next appear at the Tweed Heads Local Court on 25 May 2026.
• 5 male teenagers from QLD were arrested and all were charged with numerous offences in NSW. On 14 May 2026, a vehicle was stolen from Tallebudgera QLD. Just before midnight, NSW Police Highway Patrol officers observed the stolen vehicle speeding along Tweed Coast Road, Casuarina. A pursuit was commenced and continued north along the M1 at Chinderah. Items believed to have been thrown from the stolen vehicle struck the windscreen of the Police vehicle cracking the windscreen. All five occupants were arrested, with one of them being conveyed to hospital for a serious foot injury. None of the occupants of the vehicle held full driver’s licences, with the driver being on his learner’s licence. The driver remains refused bail to next appear before the Tweed Heads Local Court on 24 June 2026 for sentencing.
• A 56-year-old male from Tweed Heads was charged with sexual assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and contravening a domestic apprehended violence order arising from an incident in August 2025.
• A 43-year-old male from Tweed Heads South was arrested and charged with 5 serious offences including knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, large commercial quantity supply of prohibited drugs, and unauthorised possession of a firearm. Yesterday Police executed a search warrant at his premises, where a large amount of cash was located, significant amounts of drugs, and a firearm. The assistance of specialist police and NSW Fire Brigade were required to contain the area due to the presence of a drug laboratory. Simultaneous search warrants also occurred in QLD. The male was bail refused by Police to appear before the Parramatta Bail Court today.
Court outcomes:
• A 56-year-old Murwillumbah male was sentenced to a 6-month term of imprisonment to be served as an intensive correction order at Murwillumbah Local Court on 20 May 2026. The man had been arrested at South Murwillumbah about 11:00am in mid-April for drink driving. The male told police he had been drinking alcohol the night before. He returned a reading in the mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol at 0.098. At sentence, the presiding Judge also ordered the male to perform 100 hours of community service, to abstain from drinking alcohol as a condition of the intensive corrections order and disqualified the male from driving and thereafter placing him after on the alcohol interlock program.
• A 51-year-old Murwillumbah male appeared before Murwillumbah Local Court on 20 April 2026 in relation to mid-range drink driving and driving while disqualified. The male had been arrested by police for the offences in December 2025 when he put false plates on his utility vehicle to avoid being stopped for not having a licence. He was arrested and returned a reading of 0.144. The court observed that the male had used the false number plates in an effort to avoid detection and had disrespected the rule of law in breaching the earlier court ordered disqualification. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with 7 months in custody as a non-parole period and was disqualified further from driving.
• A 55-year-old Murwillumbah male also appeared before Murwillumbah Local Court on 20 April 2026 in relation to mid-range drink driving which occurred at Condong in August 2025. The court observed that the man was a repeat offender and was sentenced to a fixed term of imprisonment of 6 months and was disqualified from driving.
• In each case the court, amongst other considerations, noted the prevalence of drink driving in the district and considered community safety a paramount consideration.
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