The son of the late underworld figure Mark “Chopper” Read will spend at least the next year in prison for multiple burglary and firearms incidents he committed.
Charles Vincent Read, 24, was sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Wednesday for multiple charges, including burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, possession of ammunition without a license and drug possession.
During his appearance, Read’s lawyer said that her clients strong personality attracted “the good, the bad and the ugly” due to his infamous family name.
The court heard that on December 13, 2022, Read and another masked man broke into a service station in Richmond, stealing a significant amount of cigarettes and $500 in cash.
The stolen cigarettes, valued at $7,000, were later recovered.
Read was also involved in a disturbance in Hobart on December 31, 2022, where 000 callers reported a vehicle has been rammed and a man with a “shoulder-length mullet … running around with a harpoon gun”.
In another incident in January this year, Read kicked down the door of a Mornington house and verbally abused a resident, threatening to take his laptop.
Read’s lawyer acknowledged his troubled upbringing and suggested that being Chopper Read’s son may have played a role in his behaviour.
Read’s lawyer also mentioned that he had struggled with anxiety and depression, which he self-medicated with drugs and alcohol, including methamphetamine, from the age of 14 after the death of his father.
Read was sentenced to 15 months in jail, with the sentence backdated to June.
In addition to the prison term, Read received two three-month suspended sentences for driving while disqualified and one six-week suspended sentence for assaulting a police officer.
Two charges have been transferred to the Supreme Court, where Read is expected to appear in late January.
