Southern Highlands Storm player William James Murchie busted for crime spree

A Southern Highlands rugby player has admitted to a run of bad behaviour, including showing pubgoers stills from a video of him having sex with an ex-girlfriend and climbing the community Christmas tree.

A rugby player for the local Southern Highlands Storm has admitted to a bizarre crime spree which ranged from revenge porn to brawling.

William James Murchie, 27, appeared in Moss Vale Local Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to destruction of property, intentionally distributing an intimate image, and a “very serious” charge of affray.

The Mittagong man began his run of bad behaviour on September 13, when he sent an ex and her partner intimate images he had taken when they were together. Court documents reveal the victim woke to six texts from Murchie with photos, which had been taken from a video he had on his phone, of the pair having sex.

The victim was then contacted by a friend who told her Murchie had been at the Bowral Hotel the night before and had shown the photos to several pubgoers.

William James Murchie appeared at Moss Vale Local Court on June 22.

Court documents reveal he told people at the pub it was his revenge for an earlier break-up.

“I used to w*** to these but now she’s dead to me,” he said.

“This is what she deserves.”

The victim’s naked body, face, and tattoo are all easily identifiable according to court documents. When he was arrested for the offence, Murchie admitted to police he had sent the images to his ex and her partner for revenge.

On New Year’s Eve 2020, he continued his crime spree by destroying the Wingecarribee Shire Council Christmas tree in Corbett Plaza before midnight. In what court documents reveal was an opportunistic crime, Murchie was caught on CCTV footage drunkenly climbing the huge tree and breaking the decorations and lights adorning it.

Magistrate Mark Douglass said the destruction of the community Christmas tree was an act of “wanton stupidity”.

CCTV footage was also his downfall in his final offence, affray, which Magistrate Douglass deemed “very serious”. It occurred when Murchie, while on bail for the revenge porn charges, ended up back at the Bowral Hotel on January 10.

William James Murchie was supported in Moss Vale Court by his parents, without whom the magistrate said the verdict might have been different.

Court documents reveal Murchie was drunk when he and his friends got into an argument with some people and had to be separated by the pub staff. When the pub called last drinks at 1.45am, police facts show everyone spilt out onto Baynette St in Bowral and Murchie began his “unprovoked attack” on the victim from the earlier group.

According to court documents, he approached the victim and punched him a number of times in the back of the head before grabbing him. The court heard someone intervened on behalf of the victim, and a brawl began on Bowral’s streets.

The police facts state the victim was unconscious on the ground for some time when Murchie was pulled away from him. Witnesses said the victim wasn’t breathing for around 10 seconds before he loudly gasped back to consciousness. Police said he had bruising, swelling, and red marks around his head and neck.

The brawl was captured on the dashcam camera of a nearby taxi, and Murchie was identified by his visible colostomy bag (used to assist with his Crohn’s disease).

Magistrate Douglass said the rugby player’s “stupid” actions were aggravated by his conditional liberty.

“You were on bail and that wasn’t enough to stop you,” he told Murchie.

“In fact, it’s a very serious example of affray.”

The court heard William James Murchie is a painter and tradesman.

He likewise told the court the act of revenge porn was extremely concerning “because of the serious harm it can generate and because it can’t be restricted once it’s out there”.

Magistrate Douglass told the court it was necessary to send a strong message about these offences.

“Drunken acts that affect other people are not tolerated,” he said.

However, the magistrate accepted Murchie’s time in custody served as a “short sharp shock” to correct his behaviour.

“I note he has now served a month in prison and your lawyer has told me that’s a catalyst for change,” he said.

The magistrate sentenced Murchie to a seven-month intensive corrections order, an 18-month community corrections order, and fined him $750 to cover the Christmas tree costs. He also imposed a two-year apprehended violence order to protect the victim of the revenge porn, and ordered Murchie to comply with reasonable interventions.