Brendan Kerfoot: Rushforth man sentenced after taking photos of scoped rifle pointed at neighbour in Clarence Valley NSW

A young North Coast man landed in court after police found a secret folder on his phone filled with alarming pictures of his female neighbour taken through the scope of a rifle. Here’s what happened.

Kerfoot said the scoped rifle belonged to his dad. Picture: Archive/Brittany Cook/Isis Town & Country

A young Clarence Valley man landed in court after police found a secret folder on his phone filled with chilling pictures of his female neighbour taken through the scope of a rifle.

Rushforth man Brendan Kerfoot, 22, fronted Grafton Local Court.

The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to using an unauthorised firearm.

Kerfoot, who appeared Monday, came to the attention of police when they were searching his family home in relation to a totally separate matter, a court heard.

The neighbour had no idea she was in Kerfoot’s sights. Picture: iStock/Artem Zakharov

Investigators scoured Kerfoot’s phone and came across a “secure folder” locked with a passcode, police state in court documents.

Officers found images of a long rifle fitted with a scope on a stand, resting on a bench or table.

“An image could be seen through the scope, which depicted a young female on a large pallet swing with the reticle and rifle aimed toward the female,” according to police.

Police were going through Kerfoot’s phone for an unrelated matter when they found almost 50 pictures of his neighbour taken through the scope of a rifle.

Police found 49 images taken through the scope of the rifle pictured.

The neighbour was “completely unaware that a rifle was aimed at her”.

“The scope was aimed at different parts of the pallet (swing) and female, with several images depicting the reticle of the scope aimed at the head of the young female,” police state.

Timestamps showed photos were taken between 3:27pm and 4:17pm on April 1, 2022.

Investigators contacted Kerfoot to inform him of the images and he said the rifle was his father’s and it was not loaded when he was pointing it at the neighbour.

He “began to turn white and lost his balance” when speaking to officers, the court heard.

Kerfoot took pictures of a rifle aimed at the neighbour.

Defence lawyer Brett Marshall told the court the offending was out of character and Kerfoot entered an early guilty plea.

He said Kerfoot had no criminal history, a stable job and the backing of his family.

Magistrate Annette Sinclair said Kerfoot was “immediately contrite” – but still “targeted” an individual through the scope of a rifle.

Kerfoot was convicted and sentenced to a two-year community correction order.

He was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service work.