Christopher Creed convicted after threatening Ballina restaurant owner

A man who threatened a restaurant owner found himself in further strife when he smashed a tablet computer and warned a Corrective Services officer ‘I’ll stomp your head’.

Christopher Creed.

A Ballina man who threatened a restaurant owner found himself in further strife when he smashed a tablet computer and warned a Corrective Services officer ‘I’ll stomp your head’.

Christopher Creed, 31, was convicted at Lismore Local Court of intimidation intending fear of physical harm, being in the custody of a knife in a public place, destroy or damage property and harass or intimidate a law officer.

Creed had previously pleaded guilty to being armed with the intention to commit an indictable offence, a charge that was later withdrawn.

About 10am on July 16, Creed was walking on Winton Lane towards Kerr Street in Ballina, when he picked up and threw a glass coke bottle at a wall.

Police documents state the victim, Ashley Stafford, who operates a restaurant on Winton Lane, went out the back to investigate the sound of breaking glass and saw Creed standing in the alleyway next to a broken glass coke bottle.

Mr Stafford said to Creed: “Why the f **k would you do that?”, sparking an argument, court documents state.

Police state Creed “quickly became aggressive” and pulled out a black-handled knife with a black blade, and told Mr Stafford: “I’ll stab ya c**t”.

Mr Stafford retreated back into the restaurant, closed the door and grabbed a knife himself for protection, telling his wife and daughter to hide.

The victim then checked through the side entrance closer to Moon Street to see if Creed was still in the alleyway.

When Creed saw Mr Stafford opening the door he ran toward him saying “I’m gonna kill ya”, police facts state.

Mr Stafford quickly pulled the door shut again.

When he reopened it a short time later, Creed was walking away but yelled “I’ll come back for you c**t” as he left.

Police located Creed walking west on Winton Lane and arrested him, finding the discarded knife he used to threaten Mr Stafford in a small garden some 15 metres away.

At the station, officers asked Creed if he had a knife.

“Yes I did, you know that because you found it,” police facts state.

He was refused bail and remanded in custody.

The next day, on July 17, Creed was being held at the Lismore Court cells waiting to appear at Tweed Heads Local Court via video link for a bail hearing on unrelated charges.

A NSW Corrective Services officer handed Creed a silver Samsung tablet to facilitate the video link appearance.

When his bail was refused, Creed “immediately flung the tablet computer across the cells causing it to hit the wall,” court documents state.

“(Creed) picked the tablet computer up and slammed it down on the ground a further three times, causing both it and the case to smash, rendering it unusable.”

The accused became highly aggressive, yelling at the victim, “You white dogs!”, before punching the cell door.

The accused took off his shirt and yelled at the victim “I’ll stomp your heads, I’ll piss on your graves!”

“The accused’s actions and words caused the victim to feel intimidated and fearful for his safety.”

The accused continued to yell at the victim until he eventually lay down and went to sleep.

Creed was sentenced to a prison term of 12 months, with a non-parole period of four months.

As he had been remanded in custody since July 16, Creed was released on parole the same day of his sentence, Tuesday November 15.