Liverpool Local Court convicts Sydney father of stalking or intimidation, property damage following son’s suicide

A Sydney father has learned his fate after using rocks to carve the word “DEAD” into a vehicle as an act of revenge following his son’s suicide. Here’s what happened in court.

Liverpool Local Court. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

A father who “took matters into his own hands”, using rocks to carve the word “DEAD” into a vehicle as an act of revenge following his son’s death, has been released from custody.

The man, aged in his 30s, was convicted and sentenced to an eight-month intensive correction order when he faced Liverpool Local Court on Wednesday.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of stalking or intimidation and intentionally damaging property.

Court documents state the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became “extremely unsettled and unpredictable” after his teenage son died by suicide in western Sydney earlier this year.

Following his son’s death, he posted 56 videos on social media blaming organisations and individuals he held responsible.

Liverpool Local Court, where the offender was convicted. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

The documents also state he has “refused to believe the cause of his son’s death to be suicide”.

“(The man) has recently made a post on Facebook stating ‘police are looking for me but won’t talk to me about my murdered son’,” agreed facts state.

“He has mentioned he will be getting ‘revenge’ on all those involved in his son’s death.”

Four months following his son’s death, the man parked his car near the house of a teenager who witnessed the boy’s final moments.

The witness’ father saw the man picking up white rocks before his vehicle was “scratched with the word ‘DEAD’, written on the rear near side of the passenger door”, the facts state.

Police were told the owner of the car was concerned for the welfare of his son.

Liverpool Local Court. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

He believed the offender blamed his son for the death of his own boy “due to a previous conversation with (the offender) and videos (the offender) had posted online”.

On Wednesday, the offender’s lawyer said his client had spent seven weeks remanded in custody, and argued his moral culpability was reduced by the “grieving he was going through” at the time in question.

“He was devastated … he made a poor decision,” the lawyer said.

“He was very emotional. When I spoke to him, he said he wanted to seek counselling.”

The prosecution argued against the man’s release from custody, describing his offending as “quite concerning” and raising concerns about how to ensure community safety.

“This is a matter where (the man) took matters into his own hands … he was not happy with the outcome of the investigative process,” a prosecutor said.

The prosecutor also said there was a “level of planning” in the offending, with the man having driven to the victim’s home in the early hours of the morning.

“This was not a snap decision,” the prosecutor said.

“He’s driven a considerable amount of distance.”

Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim said the intimidation offence was more serious than the damage inflicted upon the vehicle.

“The defendant blames the victim’s son for the passing of his son in very tragic circumstances,” Mr Abdul-Karim said, adding that this would have caused the victim “trauma”.

Mr Abdul-Karim acknowledged the man had become “unsettled and upset” following the “tragic circumstances” of his son’s death.

“The passing (of the man’s son) was under distressing circumstances … I do not wish to underestimate for one moment the impact of his child’s passing would have on him,” he said.