Daniel Giles, 22 pleads guilty to stalking and intimidation after threatening prank call
A man who made a threatening call on behalf of an anonymous user he met when playing Fortnite has told a court he didn’t know his victim had been violently robbed only hours earlier.
Blacktown
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A man who threatened a stranger on behalf of an anonymous user he met on the online multiplayer game Fortnite has learnt his fate in court, and claimed he didn’t know the victim had suffered a violent break and enter only hours earlier.
On Thursday, Daniel Giles, 22 of Whalan, pleaded guilty to one count of stalking and intimidation at Bankstown Local Court.
According to agreed facts, Giles made the call on the evening of August 18, on behalf of a man he’d been chatting with online through Fortnite.
Unknown to Giles, on the morning of the same day, the victim and his mother had been subjected to a violent home invasion where five people armed with weapons forced entry into their Doonside property, the facts state.
One of the offenders allegedly hit the victim with a shovel, fracturing his skull and causing a 10cm wound to the back of the head which later required surgery.
The victim’s mother was allegedly struck with a metal pole causing bruises to her shoulder and back.
Police allege the offenders stole an Apple iPhone and various items of clothing from the property and told the victims to erase their CCTV security footage before they left, agreed facts state.
The victim and his mother were on the way home from Westmead Hospital when he answered a call from a private number, which was Giles.
After a brief silence Giles said “Motherf---r we’ll be back.”
The victim replied: “Back?”
Giles continued “Don’t be stupid we’re coming back for your mum, we’re gonna take her other leg. We’re gonna finish her and let you know about it.”
The victim then hung up and called emergency services, with Optus later confirming the call had come from Giles’ mobile.
On September 7 police attended Giles house where he made full admission for the call, explaining it was a prank made on behalf of a user on Fortnite.
Giles told police he didn’t know anything about the user and couldn’t provide details to help police identify him aside from “he was male with a Kiwi or Aussie accent.” He also gave police his phone to assist in their further investigations.
Giles lawyer said his client’s words were “horrible”, from a “place of ignorance” and were proof “that you never know what someone is going through”.
His asked the court to consider Giles’ lack of criminal history, his young age and his full admission to the facts, and said his client is of good character, has a close relationship to his mother and spends his free time volunteering.
Magistrate Chisholm acknowledged Giles had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, and his remorse.
“I note a degree of immaturity in this matter and you are otherwise a man of good character who does so much good for the community.” she said.
Ms Chisholm noted while there was nothing to suggest Giles had anything to do with what happened to the victims, his call caused them to further fear for their safety.
“You didn’t know this person and that they had just come back from hospital after a home invasion, a mother and son with serious fear for their safety”, she said
“I have been asked to consider a non-conviction for this matter but it is not a trivial enough matter that it would be appropriate”.
Giles was convicted and sentenced to a 14 month community correction order.
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