Jasper Lachlan Cooke: Young Dubbo father threatens partner’s sister after ‘bad parent’ insult

A Dubbo father who intimidated his partner’s sister, threatening to get people to bash her has been sentenced. Here’s what happened in court.

Jasper Cooke appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday, October 12. Photo: Facebook

A young Dubbo father threatened his partner’s sister — claiming he would get multiple people to bash her — after being told he was a “bad parent”, a court has heard.

Jasper Lachlan Cooke, 24, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on October 12 after he was arrested and charged with contravening an apprehended domestic violence order and intimidation.

According to a statement of agreed facts, Cooke was living at the home of his partner’s mother on Jacqueline Dr in Dubbo and on Tuesday, he began arguing with the victim.

Jasper Cooke was sentenced in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

He was told “he was a bad parent” after one of his kids was found alone by a neighbour down the street.

This prompted Cooke to start yelling at the victim, who warned him that she would call the police as he was “scaring her”.

“[Cooke] snatched the victim’s phone … and ran out the front door with it,” agreed facts state.

A short time later when the victim was hiding in her room, Cooke returned and started banging on the door, threatening to get a girl “to bash you”.

He then told the victim he would “get six people to bash you, just wait”.

The mother of the victim arrived to find her daughter “terribly upset”, and Cooke visibly erratic as he was frequently entering and leaving the house.

She ordered Cooke to leave, saying he shouldn’t be at the house when affected by drugs, which he denied.

Police soon arrived, forming an opinion that Cooke was “affected by an unknown substance” as he was stumbling and acting erratically before he was arrested and taken to Dubbo Police Station.

Jasper Cooke was arrested and taken to Dubbo Police Station on Tuesday. Picture: Ryan Young

On Wednesday, Cooke’s lawyer, Lucy Maher, appealed for a supervised community corrections order for her client, saying the offence fell around the mid-range of objective seriousness.

Ms Maher told the court Cooke had a fairly limited adult criminal history, further explaining

that her client suffers from ADHD and hasn’t taken drugs for quite some time.

She outlined Cooke’s reasoning for residing at the same address as the victim.

“He and his partner … [were] given notice they had to leave because it was going to be renovated,” Ms Maher said.

“[The partner’s] mother invited them to live at the home … a temporary arrangement – but in breach of the AVO.”

In sentencing Cooke, Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim highlighted the seriousness of the offence, noting the “contravention seems to have occurred on a number of levels”.

He rejected Ms Maher’s claims, saying Cooke “appears to have been intoxicated” at the time of the offence.

While acknowledging Cooke’s “violence” was bridging the line of being sent to jail, Magistrate Abdul-Karim ultimately placed the young father on a 15 month supervised community corrections order.