Penrith: Dion Belcastro sentenced for threatening a judge

A western Sydney father has been sentenced to jail for making threats against a supreme court justice and his ex-wife. Here’s what we know.

A father who made vile threats against his ex-wife and threatened to “break every bone” in a high court judge’s body has been hit with jail time.

Dion Belcastro, 40, faced the Penrith Local Court on Thursday and was sentenced to a 15-month jail term.

He has previously pleaded guilty to charges of threatening a person for being a judicial officer and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, along with unrelated charges of driving with a drug in his saliva and a domestic violence charge of stalking or intimidating.

It came after the judge ordered Belcastro’s eviction and repossession of his Emu Plains home after he defaulted on mortgage repayments.

Belcastro, unhappy with the outcome, applied for an urgent appeal on the decision however the original order was upheld.

Dion Belcastro in 2018. Picture: Social media

Documents tendered to the court state on January 10, Belcastro, who was recovering in the Nepean Hospital after a knee reconstruction, sent a threatening email to a Supreme Court Justice’s associate, along with two pictures of his left leg in a brace, venting his frustrations about the court order and explaining his situation. The email read:

“Dear (court associate), I just had a knee reconstruction and now when I leave I have no we’re (sic) to live and go off because (SCJ) decision (sic) to throw me out of my house what kind of cold hearted person does that you let him know he’s got to (sic) options here and list the matter at court and allow me back until property is sold so I can sleep in my bed have my enmities there and fix the house for sale or Once I am better I’ll spend 2 weeks at the court waiting for him and I’ll break every bone in is (sic) body and make sure he suffers like I am and don’t think for a second I won’t.”

He slammed the judge for being a “cold hearted person” who had “thrown him out of his house” and made threats to “break every bone” in his body if the order wasn’t revoked.

The email was reported to the police, who went to visit Belcastro in hospital the next day.

Documents state Belcastro admitted to sending the email, stating the reason he did it was because he was “angry and in pain”.

In the Penrith Local Court on February 28, Magistrate Lisa Graham said the threat “strikes at the heart of the justice system”.

Belcastro was also sentenced for intimidating his ex-wife, with court documents stating since the pair separated in 2022, his ex-wife had received multiple threats.

He harassed her stating she must “mend the relationship” and get back together with him or he will sue her for a large sum of money.

He also made threats to physically harm her on multiple occasions such as “I’ll end your life” and that she’d “end up with a broken leg or a broken arm”.

His ex-wife reported him to the Castle Hill Police on November 19 2024, with police arresting him two days later.

During his interview, Belcastro told police “I am not a bad guy. I was under a lot of stress”.

In court on Thursday, Ms Graham said the “vile” threats Belcastro made against his ex-wife were “a serious set of offences”.

“These are serious words spoken and the defendant knew he spoke them in the presence of his children,” she said.

“I regard the offending as significant … it was insidious.”

Belcastro has been sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 15 months, and will be eligible for parole on October 10.