Mark Anthony Loucas Christopher pleads guilty to smashing 40 Byron Shire Council parking meters at Brunswick Heads
A Byron man vandalised 40 parking meters while screaming “f – k the council” and “good luck getting your money tomorrow” after the introduction of paid spaces at Brunswick Heads.
Police & Courts
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A Byron Shire man vandalised 40 parking meters while screaming “f – k the council” and “good luck getting your money tomorrow” after the introduction of paid spaces at Brunswick Heads.
Mark Anthony Loucas Christopher damaged most of the 51 parking meters in town between 9.30pm on Saturday and 7.50am on Sunday after Byron Shire Council brought in the payment system late last month.
The 37-year-old faced Byron Bay Local Court over videolink from custody pleading guilty to destroying or damaging property.
Court documents state Christopher told witnesses hours before the incident that he was “pissed off” at the new parking meters. Witnesses said he seemed “extremely agitated”.
The witnesses later heard Christopher “going crazy” and “screaming aggressively”. He was heard “yelling through town” and witnesses watched him strike meters, the documents state.
While punching a parking meter screen, Christopher screamed: “F--k the council” and “good luck getting your money tomorrow.”
The Brunswick Hotel captured CCTV of Christopher smashing a meter outside the venue about 2am.
Council workers reported the damaged meters the next morning and police tracked down Christopher, who was living in a tent in nearby bushland.
He initially denied involvement when questioned by police, but replied “That looks like me” when shown a photo of himself.
“I was so drunk I don’t remember doing it, but I did it,” he told officers.
“I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do.”
The council has sought compensation and estimated repairs would cost about $30,000.
Police state Christopher was compliant and remorseful following the offending.
However, officers told the court on Monday that Christopher was serving an intensive correction order at the time of the rampage due to prior violence toward the public and police.
Christopher is due to be sentenced in December.
The council’s director of infrastructure services Phil Holloway spoke of the incident in a statement on Monday.
“Regrettably, all that this sort of vandalism does is cost money and delay the flow of money to the community for their local projects,” he said.
The council urged motorists to use the meters “as usual” via QR code and the Pay Stay App.
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