Dean Fletcher pleads guilty to trespassing at Prime Minister’s home
A man who broke into Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s backyard as part of a politically inspired prank and later said he had planned to “s***” in the pool has said he regrets the incident getting out of hand.
St George Shire Standard
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A man who broke into the Prime Minister’s private backyard as a politically inspired prank has said he would have done it to any other Liberal prime minister out of his frustration with climate policy.
Dean Fletcher, 33, was charged with trespassing and inciting a criminal act after he and Caitlin Cooper, 18, entered the backyard of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s private Sutherland Shire home armed with cans of cider on January 3.
Fletcher had organised a joke Facebook event encouraging punters to come and watch the cricket by the pool in protest against Prime Minister Morrison’s response to the devastating summer of bushfires.
Magistrate Jayeann Carney adjourned his scheduled sentencing at Sutherland Local Court as Fletcher would currently be unable to perform any court-ordered community service due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fletcher described the incident as a “prank that got out of hand”.
“I regret causing any harm or distress to Mr Morrison and his family and it’s certainly something that with hindsight I wouldn’t do again,” Fletcher told the St George Shire Standard at court.
“My issue is not so much with Mr Morrison – I disagreed with Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull’s climate policies as well, it just so happens that Mr Morrison was the Prime Minister in January.”
Fletcher described his perception of Australia’s climate policies as a “systemic failure” rather than the responsibility of any particular individual.
His matter will return to Sutherland Local Court on May 28.
Cooper was previously fined $400 with no conviction for trespassing by Magistrate Les Mabbutt over their involvement in the incident.
“I’m not sorry about what happened, I am sorry if I caused any distress to members of the community or the local area but I’m not sorry about the outcome,” Cooper said at the time.
“(I did it because of) anxiety about the climate and our government’s inaction on the bushfire crisis.”
Fletcher and Cooper had live-streamed themselves drinking cider in the backyard before concerned neighbours contacted police.
In a video they posted to YouTube afterwards Fletcher said they were waiting to “shit in the Prime Minister’s pool”.