Court told Russell Island construction worker threatened multiple residents, rammed his car

An ex-soldier with a criminal record has been refused bail for allegedly ‘running around’ Russell Island ‘making threats and ramming people’.

A former soldier alleged to have made 75 threats including following and ramming residents with his vehicle in a “remote” island community has had his bail denied for allegedly “posing too great a risk to the community”.

Russell Island resident Benjamin Paul Sullivan, 44, showed little emotion when it became clear he would be kept in remand after his February 11 appearance at Cleveland Magistrates Court.

Sullivan faced numerous charges including one count of threatening violence (discharge firearms or other act), one count of using a carriage service to make a threat to cause serious harm and two counts of using a carriage service to make a threat to kill.

The court heard the former infantryman’s alleged threats were graphic:

“If we get hold of you we’ll rip you apart,” Magistrate Deborah Vasta read out to the court an alleged threat made.

Russell Island man Ben Sullivan has had his bail denied. Picture: Facebook.

Sullivan, who has qualifications as a stonemason and works as a construction worker, had allegedly been “running around the island making threats and ramming people” and in one alleged instance threatened a man with a nail gun.

However, the defence said the facts of that particular alleged incident were disputed and that their client’s colleagues “had not been interviewed by police”.

The court was told the defendant had “a history of using a carriage service to harass” and was sentenced to probation on July 30 last year for serious assault of a person aged over 60 and “a couple of wilful damages related to that”.

Deemed too great a risk of allegedly “hurting and intimidating people” the man was kept behind bars on remand.

“There seems to be quite a number of people on that island afraid of you for these alleged threats, including threats by text messages … to hurt them,” Magistrate Vasta said.

“It is not necessarily a weak case.

“The community of Russell Island is a remote community but I just think you are an unacceptable risk of (allegedly) continuing to behave like this.”

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The defence said Sullivan struggled with PTSD and volunteered at his local Men’s Shed and contributed as a volunteer firefighter.

He is scheduled to next appear at court on March 11.

Basically stalking and ramming someone’s car on a couple of occasions

Other people separate to those instances have also allegedly been threatened

Sullivan was deemed by Magistrate Deborah Vasta to be too great a risk of “hurting and intimidating people”