Ballina court: Roberto Bartolo Argentaro threatens to burn ex’s house down because he had to spend Christmas without her
A Northern Rivers gardener who threatened to burn his ex’s house down after finding out they would not be spending Christmas together has avoided prison. Here’s the latest.
Police & Courts
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A Dunoon gardener who threatened to burn his ex’s house down on Christmas Eve after finding out they would not be spending the next day together has avoided prison.
When police approached Roberto Bartolo Argentaro about the threat, he told them: “It’s a lyric from the Eminem song”.
The 47-year-old was sentenced at Ballina Local Court on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to intimidation and breaching an apprehended violence order (AVO).
Argentaro and the woman were in a relationship for 10 years before they split in October, police state in court documents.
He constantly showed up at his former partner’s Skennars Head home uninvited, even after she told him he had to stop.
“When Argentaro is staying, he will begin to harass the woman for sex … when she declines this is when Argentaro will become abusive,” the documents state.
Argentaro came to the woman’s house and banged on the locked door on December 24, “aggravated” because he would not be spending Christmas with his former partner.
“I will burn your house down,” Argentaro told her.
He left when the woman told him she was going to phone police.
Then Argentaro sent the woman threatening text messages about 11pm on May 7.
“F--k you. You ruined my life but karma will kill you,” he wrote.
“I am so drunk. I will kill you before I die.”
Argentaro then went to the woman’s address “in a manic state”, the documents state.
The woman was scared of him and an apprehended violence order was put in place on June 8.
Argentaro breached the order by driving past her house days later.
Defence lawyer Tom Ivey said Argentaro found it hard to let go of the relationship.
“In the lead-up to Christmas, he learned he was spending it alone which made him upset,” he told the court.
Mr Ivey said Argentaro suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle accident when he was younger. which lowered his moral culpability.
He also told the court his client had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was receiving mental health treatment.
“When he breached the AVO he was grossly intoxicated and used emotional blackmail to try and re-initiate contact with her … there’s been no contact for two months,” Mr Ivey said.
Magistrate Karen Stafford said the threats were at the woman’s home, which aggravated the offending.
She said Argentaro had spent time in a mental health unit “which objectively makes you less criminally responsible for how you acted“.
“You’ve shown a great understanding of your behaviour and the effect on her,” she added.
But Ms Stafford said Argentaro’s repetitive offending made the need to protect the woman more significant.
Argentaro was convicted and sentenced to a 12-month supervised community corrections order.
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