Man charged for stalking his own ‘stalker’

The local man filmed his neighbour four times, despite an order being made to protect him against his neighbour.

SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGE DISCUSS USE WITH YOUR EDITOR - TABLES HAVE TURNED: A Tara man was charged with stalking his own 'stalker'.

TARA man Gregory George Olsson, 60, has been charged with stalking his own stalker, after filming his neighbour four times, despite a restraining order being imposed to protect Olsson from his neighbour.

Police prosecutor sergeant Derek Brady told Dalby Magistrates Court that a restraining order was imposed to protect Olsson from his neighbour on December 6, 2017. The order was to last for two years.

On January 19 this year, the neighbour was walking his dog at 6am and passed the defendant's house on the opposite side of the road to abide by the requirements of the restraining order.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGE DISCUSS USE WITH YOUR EDITOR - TABLES HAVE TURNED: A Tara man was charged with stalking his own 'stalker'.

 

Olsson emerged from his house with a camera and began filming the victim.

At 10.30am on January 20, the victim was doing work around his yard when Olsson appeared with a camera again, filming the victim for seven minutes.

One March 28, the victim was again walking his dog around Olsson's property when he emerged from the tree line with a camera, and claimed on film that the victim was "attacking him".

The victim faced away from the camera and called triple-0, calling for Olsson to "get back" when he began to fear for his own safety.

The victim's wife came out of her house when Olsson began filming her, despite the victim's calls to "leave his wife out" of the incident.

The victim's wife produced her own camera, telling Olsson "you're supposed to be the protective one, you're supposed to be afraid of us."

Later in the day, the victim drove to a hardware store where he spotted the defendant sitting outside a pie shop.

When Olsson saw the victim, he began filming them again.

Olsson was subsequently arrested, and told police in an interview that he "feared for his own safety", according to sergeant Brady.

Defence lawyer Michael Bond described the ongoing feud between the neighbours as a "tit for tat" sort of arrangement, and urged magistrate Tracy Mossop to give his client "one more chance".

Mr Bond told the court attempts at mediation between the parties had been attempted but had failed.

The lawyer also asked that no conviction be recorded as his client was a member of the rural fire brigade and had been serving in Crows Nest. As a requirement of his job, Olsson needed to attain a blue card and argued that a conviction would jeopardise his ability to work.

Ms Mossop reprimanded Olsson for his behaviour.

"I'm parenting you because you're a man in your 60s that can't control your behaviour when it comes to your neighbour," she said.

"This is your last chance."

Olsson pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful stalking.

He was sentenced to 12 months probation with no conviction recorded.

A restraining order was then placed against Olsson, lasting for 12 months.

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