A SELF-EMPLOYED concreter has been slapped with fines and a community corrections order after he fell out with his best mate over money and sent a slew of abusive messages.
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An application to have Garden Suburb resident Stein England's sentence dealt with under Section 14 for mental health was shot down in Belmont Local Court on Wednesday.
Magistrate Stephen Olischlager said while there may be some connection between England's depressive disorder and the abusive and aggressive messages he sent to his friend - the link is limited.
Police evidence in the case confirmed England "has problems controlling his rage" and acknowledged it wasn't the first time he had used Facebook or text messages in a menacing way.
The court heard issues arose after England lent his mate $40,000 for the purpose of buying steel from China to resell in Australia.
The plan was for the pair to split the profits, but England's defence lawyer David Fryatt said the friend "reneged" on the debt after a falling out.
Court documents showed England, 34, had faced financial troubles after he liquidated one company to open another during COVID.
He then tried to contact multiple people who owed him money, messaging his friend in a group chat on Facebook asking him to pay back the $40,000.
On January 25, England asked the victim to create a fraudulent statement allowing him to show that he did work under his new company that his old company had completed.
The friend declined to write the letter and England became furious, insulting him until the friend eventually blocked him on Facebook.
That didn't stop England, who attempted to call the victim 10 times on Facebook messenger the next day as the victim continued to ask him to stop.
A day later he messaged the third person in the group chat saying, "I'm not kidding, he has 30 minutes to call me or I'm losing the plot and it won't be pretty trust me".
Other messages he sent included, "You have just called me and told me you are planning to see that I lose both my homes and my business all of which is for my daughter. You know what mother f***** let's do this. The last piece of s*** that threatened anything to do with her I drove through his f****** fence and beat the f*** out of him. So you know what it's on!!!!".
When he didn't hear back from the victim, he later wrote "He needs to call asap or I'm going to snap here. Answer the god damn phone honestly or this is getting messy, I'm done."
Court documents showed England had been going to the victim's home trying to speak to him but he wasn't there.
Magistrate Olischlager said a sentencing report tendered on England's behalf wasn't "glowing".
"It does seem to suggest a tendency on your part to minimise your conduct in terms of dealing with conflict, describing it as an 'overreaction'," he said.
"It's not, it's acts of intimidation that are criminal in conduct, wholly unreasonable and wholly inappropriate, not just an overreaction."
England was fined $550 and sentenced to a three-year community corrections order after he pleaded guilty to contravening an AVO, stalking and intimidation with intent to cause fear or physical harm and using a carriage service to harass, menace or offend.
He was also in breach of a community corrections order for previous matters.
England will return to court in September on other charges.
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Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
