Tamborine Mountain State High School principal tells court of parent’s violent rampage

A Gold Coast high school principal has told a court she now sleeps with an axe beside her bed after an enraged parent stormed her home during a violent rampage. Now, the man involved has been sentenced.

AN enraged parent who smashed in a school principal’s front door during a terrifying rampage has been slapped with a suspended jail sentence.

Miguel Baluskas, 48, of Robina, faced Beenleigh District Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to charges of threatening violence at night and wilful damage after he stormed the home of Tamborine Mountain high school principal Tracey Brose about 9pm on May 20 last year.

The court was told a highly-agitated Mr Baluskas arrived at the Brose family home wearing his pyjamas and slippers demanding to speak to the principal over a long-running civil defamation case.

Miguel Baluskas pleaded guilty to threatening violence at night and wilful damage. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Mr Baluskas and his wife Donna, two of several school parents embroiled in a $1 million law suit launched by Mrs Brose, had just learnt lawyers for the principal had made moves to block the sale of the Baluskas home as the defamation case escalated.

The court was shown video of Mr Baluskas kicking in the front door of the Brose home as children shrieked in terror.

He retreated only after Mr Brose, who had repeatedly told him to stop it, warned that he was carrying a knife and had called the police.

Mr Baluskas, a former Australian soldier who had no history of violent criminal offending, was arrested the following day and told police he knew his conduct was wrong but he ‘had reached breaking point’.

In delivering a nine-month suspended jail sentence, Judge Craig Chowdhury said he understood emotions were running high between the warring parties, but slammed Mr Baluskas’ behaviour as ‘disgraceful’.

Tamborine Mountain high school principal Tracey Brose and her husband Peter Brose, whose home was vandalized by a parent, Beenleigh Courts. Picture: Liam Kidston.

“People get angry all the time - it’s a natural human emotion,” he said.

“(And) there’s clearly some bad blood but people are entitle to take legal proceedings.”

He said Mrs Brose was entitled to feel safe in her own home.

“A person’s home is their castle,” he said.

“They are entitled to feel safe without enraged men like you coming and kicking their door in.

“It was an extremely frightening and dangerous incident.

“One can only wonder what might have happened if you had got through the door.”

He said Mr Baluskas would have the suspended sentence ‘hanging over his head’ for the next 12 months.

Outside court Mr Baluskas declined to comment except to say: ‘It was never a home invasion’.

Mr and Mrs Brose said they were satisfied with the outcome.

The bitter defamation trial wrapped up last Friday after four weeks of extraordinary evidence.

A decision is not expected until next year.

Originally published as Tamborine Mountain State High School principal tells court of parent’s violent rampage