Delta Goodrem stalker: James Lafferty fights for innocence
The infatuated convicted stalker of pop star Delta Goodrem has launched a bizarre defence of his creepy actions telling a court: “I tried to meet the woman, tried to give her flowers ... I told her I love her, I told her how beautiful she was. What did I do wrong?”
Central Sydney
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An infatuated Delta Goodrem stalker who penned hundreds of poems, tracked down her Sydney home and brought her Valentine’s Day gifts has unleashed a bizarre rant in a last-ditch effort to re-claim his innocence.
James Joseph Lafferty, 47, appeared by videolink in Downing Centre District Court to seek leave to appeal his convictions for stalking and harassing the pop singer telling the court he was innocent.
The man, wearing a white T-shirt, jeans and a zebra-print head garment, lashed out at his perceived treatment by the courts, police and media and claimed he was forced to plead guilty because of the public outcry.
“I didn’t get a fair go … the whole country found me guilty,” he said.
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“I wanted to come home (to South Grafton). I didn’t want to come back and get chased around by the (media) mob.
“I tried to meet the woman, tried to give her flowers, that’s all. I told her I love her, I told her how beautiful she was. What did I do wrong? I did nothing wrong. My whole family has been ruined.”
Lafferty claimed the magistrate “fed” the reporting media and said his messages to the singer – which included “please come down and meet me”, “I honestly love you Delta, my soulmate forever” and “James loves you Delta!” – were personal and shouldn’t have been broadcast nationally.
“The whole of Australia got to read them,” he said. “How about I go through their personal messages and share them to the world. They had no right to look at them let alone give them to the public. Since when was it a crime to direct message a person on Instagram.”
Lafferty had arrived at the singer’s unit on Valentine’s Day and tried to leave her gifts but was turned away by the building’s concierge, before ambushing Ms Goodrem the next day when she went to collect a dress.
Lafferty’s sensational rant about the publicity of his criminal proceedings and being labelled a stalker only dampened when Judge Garry Neilson interjected to say he himself had been called a paedophile in the media.
“Well, that’s pretty bad,” Lafferty said.
When the South Grafton man began to realise his appeal wouldn’t be heard, he again lashed out.
“I will go to ICAC about that (the police), and the feds … the truth will come out,” he said. “I got nothing to lose now, your honour. They (police) commit crimes, not me.”
Judge Nielson dismissed the application for leave to appeal Lafferty’s convictions as the paperwork was lodged five months following the sentence, which was outside the legal framework.
The original sentence including convictions for three offences, stalking, use of a carriage service to harass and refusing to comply with police direction and a 18-month community correction order remain in place.