13 months for stab threats

By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS

A MAN has threatened to stab his parents as he sharpened a fishing knife in front of them in their Hampton Park home, a court has heard.
The 32-year-old accused arrived at the home’s doorstep, asking for a drink of water, in the morning of 15 September.
When allowed inside, he became verbally abusive and made the threats, police prosecutor Senior Constable Liz Millear told Dandenong Magistrates’ Court.
The accused then smashed the home’s windows and kicked in the garage door.
After being arrested and taken to Narre Warren police station, the accused reappeared at the home in an “agitated” state about 4pm.
He again sharpened his knife and told his mother: “You’re not going anywhere.”
The mother escaped, and drove to Endeavour Hills police station.
Arresting police then took the observably drug-affected and verbally abusive man to hospital for a mental health assessment, the court was told.
On 12 October, the man breached a family violence safety notice by again visiting the parents’ home.
His father let him inside for a “short time” for a change of clothes, before warning him he’d call police.
The enraged accused pushed the father onto a wall, and left.
He later returned but was told by the father to “p*** off”.
From outside, the son threw an object through the lounge room window.
A defence lawyer told the court on 14 December that the accused had a “difficult” relationship with his parents, and a long history of drug and alcohol abuse including a $300-a-day ice habit.
The man, who had priors for burglary, theft and drug-related offences, didn’t have a history of family violence, the lawyer said.
The accused had to be re-sentenced for breaching a “therapeutic” community-based order due to his recent offending.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said he was concerned for the man’s mental health; he’d received neither a treatment nor diagnosis for his condition.
The man was sentenced to 13 month’s jail, including a four-month non-parole period. He had served 32 days already in remand.