Mark ‘Chopper’ Read’s son, Charles Read, sentenced on serious charges in Hobart Magistrates court

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree it seems as the son of one of Australia’s most notorious crime figures has been jailed.

Mark ‘Chopper’ Read’s son, Charles Read, 24, was convicted on a raft of charges and will spend another 15 months behind bars after being convicted and sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court in Tasmania on Wednesday.

The son of the late underworld figure had previously pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, stealing, motor vehicle stealing, unlawful possession of property, possessing ammunition when not the holder of the appropriate firearm licence, driving while disqualified, evading police, breaching bail and some drug possession charges.

The ABC is reporting that Prosecutor Jessica Freeman told the court two men forced their way into a service station in Richmond about 1am on December 13, 2022.

Ms Freeman said security camera footage showed the two men, who both had their faces covered, putting “a considerable amount of cigarettes” into backpacks, and that they also took a cash drawer containing $500.

She said they left, but one of the men returned to check “if they missed anything”.

The court heard the two men then left by climbing over a fence at the back of the service station.

The court heard the cigarettes — worth $7,000 — were recovered.

Ms Freeman said a search of Read’s home was undertaken, and police found $3,750 worth of cigarettes, ammunition, a broken cash register tray, running shoes and gloves — and a mask that matched those seen on the service station’s security camera vision, and a bag containing tools that was later identified as stolen from a vehicle earlier in 2022.

The court heard police were called to a disturbance on a suburban street in Hobart about 6.45pm on December 31, 2022.

Ms Freeman said police were told “a vehicle had been rammed, shots had been fired” and that a man with a “shoulder-length mullet” was “running around with a harpoon gun”.

“At 7.10pm police located the defendant who matched the description,” she said.

In January this year, the court heard, Read went to a house in the Hobart suburb of Mornington after receiving a call from another man.

Ms Freeman said the other man had told the man who lived in the house, “Do you know Chopper Read’s son, he’s coming to see you”.

She told the court Read kicked the door in, and that he verbally abused the man who lived there, calling him a paedophile, and said he was “going to get” the man’s laptop.

Read was also sentenced for being in possession of a stolen motorcycle and for stealing a car from a driveway in Richmond.

Read’s lawyer Caroline Graves said while “I’m not about blaming the sins of the father”, being Chopper Read’s son “could be a self-fulfilling prophecy”.

“He has a personality which probably attracts both the good, the bad and the ugly of the people that wish to attach to him,” Ms Graves said.

She said Read’s parents separated when Read was very young, that he was close to his mother and maternal grandparents and that he would travel to see his father from the age of four years.

Ms Graves said Read was 14 when his father died.

“That had a traumatic effect on his life at that time,” she said.

She said Read started drinking alcohol at a young age.

Ms Graves said Read had also used drugs, including methamphetamine. She said he had advised that he struggled with anxiety and depression, but that it had never been diagnosed and he had “self medicated”.

She said Read’s 200 days in custody while on remand had been a “salutary period” for him.

Ms Graves asked Magistrate Chris Webster to take into account Mr Read’s youth, contrition, the time he has spent in custody already — which she said had included “a lot of lockdown time” — and that he had the support of his family.

Mr Webster sentenced Read to 15 months’ jail, backdated to June when Read was taken into custody.

Read also received two three-month suspended sentences for driving while disqualified, and one six-week suspended sentence for assaulting a police officer.

He has been disqualified from driving for a further 18 months.

Two other charges have been transferred to the Supreme Court, where Read is due to appear in late January.

When the court adjourned, Read thanked Mr Webster and wished Ms Graves a Merry Christmas.