Bailey Clifford was spared jail over knife threat, thefts before killing Paul Grapsas

The man who killed Paul Grapsas had threatened another person with a knife months earlier during a three-month crime spree, it can be revealed.

Bailey Clifford (right) has admitted to killing Geelong father-of-three Paul Grapsas.

The man who killed Paul Grapsas near his waterfront home threatened a victim with a knife months earlier and was serving a court order at the time of his slaying, it can be revealed.

Bailey Clifford, 20, was due to stand trial for the September 2023 murder of the former TAC worker before admitting to his manslaughter on Monday.

The Addy can now report he had been placed on a community corrections order in June 2023 over a spate of crimes in Geelong and Ocean Grove, telling a court he would turn his life around after being spared a prison term.

He pointed a knife at a Belmont man and was tackled to the ground in one early-morning confrontation after he was caught rummaging through his car.

Paul Grapsas and his wife, Jessica, were expecting their third child at the time of his death

Magistrate Ann McGarvie told the then 19-year-old in court she hoped her leniency and his exposure to jail on remand would be used as a second chance at life.

“This can be a blip in your life that you may look back on and say going to prison for six days was a good thing,” she said at the time.

He would kill Mr Grapsas three months later.

His lawyer had earlier told the judge his experience in custody had been an “eye opener” and that he felt like he had taken “everything for granted”.

“I am going to turn my life around from this point,” a tearful Clifford told the court.

The revelations come after Clifford agreed to a plea deal in the Supreme Court this week after initially choosing to fight a murder charge at trial.

He accepted the lesser charge of manslaughter during an arraignment on Monday, uttering the word “guilty”.

Police on Malone St near Western Beach Rd after Mr Grapsas body was found dead. Picture: Mark Wilson

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of theft, also between September 14 and 15, 2023.

Mr Grapsas, 40, was found dead near his Western Beach Rd home in the early hours of September 15, 2023.

He had left his home for a late-night walk with his dog but never returned.

The loving father-of-three was expecting his third child at the time of his death.

A plea hearing for Clifford has been set for April 7.

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Originally published as Bailey Clifford was spared jail over knife threat, thefts before killing Paul Grapsas