Norlane man Blake Newling fronts court after threatening to kill parking inspector

A Norlane man threatened to kill a parking officer who was about to mark his tyre, a court has heard.

Blake Newling leaving the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday.

A Norlane man who racially abused and threatened to kill a parking officer was having the “worst month of his life”, a court has heard.

Blake Newling, 26, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday to making a threat to kill.

On October 5 last year, Newling yelled at a council parking inspector to not mark the tyres of his black Holden ute, which was parked on Gordon Ave in Geelong West.

Court documents state Newling then hurled racial slurs towards the parking inspector, who found his behaviour “extremely offensive”.

The inspector tried to explain to Newling he was parked in a one-hour zone.

Newling told the inspector he would not be moving his car, court documents state.

The incident was captured on the inspector’s body camera.

Newling then called the City of Greater Geelong customer service line and told an employee a parking inspector was ticketing vehicles on Gorden Ave.

Court documents state Newling told the employee: “I’ve just let him know I’m going to take his life if he touches my car.”

Newling made repeated threats to kill the parking inspector during the phone call.

Newling’s lawyer Tom Edwards said his client struggled with social interactions.

“He acknowledges he is a square peg trying to fit into a round hole in society,” Mr Edwards said.

Newling moved to a rural, off-grid property in Cressy in January this year with no running water or power, Mr Edwards said.

“He is isolated and he has taken himself out of what he deems as an unliveable situation in society,” he said.

“But the offence itself, we can’t ignore that, it’s a very nasty situation.”

Newling told the court he was having “the worst month of his life” at the time of the offence.

Magistrate Peter Mellas said the offending was “quite significant” but could have been avoided.

“All that would have happened is his tyre would have been marked and he would have been fined but now we’re here,” he said.

Mr Mellas said he had “no doubt” the offending would have had an impact on the victim.

“This person was going about their job,” he said.

“This is just another event this parking (inspector) is going to carry with them.”

Newling was convicted and fined $1000.

Originally published as Norlane man Blake Newling fronts court after threatening to kill parking inspector