Kieren Grey sentenced adjourned over death threats to Kingston Council parking inspectors
A Melbourne man who threatened to kill two Kingston parking inspectors claims the court process was “substantial punishment”. A magistrate had a different take.
South East
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A man who threatened to kill two parking inspectors over an illegally parked van has told a Melbourne court he has been “punished enough” through the legal proceedings.
Kieren Grey was previously found guilty of threatening to kill two parking inspectors at a Mordialloc car park last year, after a discussion over an illegally parked van turned nasty.
Grey appeared in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on Thursday in front of Magistrate Stephen Lee.
Grey produced a letter of apology, hoping to resolve the matter with an adjourned undertaking.
“I’ve got a letter that describes my sorry-ness, it describes everything,” Grey said.
“I wouldn’t want to put myself through this again, it’s already been a substantial punishment for me to be here.”
Mr Lee warned Grey to not characterise himself as the victim in the matter.
“All you’ve done is go to court and answer the charges, you’ve not been punished,” he said.
“These are your actions that you’re answering to, you’re not the victim here Mr Grey.”
The matter had been previously adjourned to give Grey an opportunity to engage with legal advice and to be assessed for a community corrections order, both of which he was hesitant to do.
The court heard Grey had not consented to engage in a CCO assessment, telling the court it “wouldn’t work for him”.
“I decided the CCO wasn’t good for me, I’ve already got mental health professionals that I trust,” he said.
Due to his refusal to engage, Grey had been deemed unsuitable for a CCO.
Newly appointed defence lawyer Adrian Dessi fought to have Grey’s sentence adjourned, to give him the best possible outcome for a sentence.
“With the material he’s provided me, there are some really serious submissions that we can put forward in terms of mitigating factors,” Mr Dessi said.
Mr Lee agreed, once again recognising the seriousness of the charges.
“This was fairly deliberate and serious offending,” he said.
“It involved the threat of a weapon.”
Mr Lee told Grey to trust Mr Dessi to handle his case carefully.
“Mr Dessi is a competent lawyer and he’s here to assist you, you should listen to him and take his advice,” he said.
“Trust him, your best foot forward is through Mr Dessi.”
Mr Lee found Grey guilty in May, saying he found the victims “credible, consistent and compelling”.
“They recalled specific sentences and threats in specific detail,” he said.
“Their evidence was corroborative and I believe a consistent account of your behaviour.”
The altercation between Grey and his two victims happened at the Peter Scullin Reserve in Mordialloc on October 30, 2022.
Grey had illegally parked and received a ticket earlier in the day in Frankston, before moving and illegally parking his van again across four spaces in the Beach Rd car park.
After being in his van for an hour Grey noticed two inspectors approaching his vehicle, before getting out to speak to them.
The dispute escalated after Grey confronted the two inspectors with “hostility and aggression”.
Both victims gave evidence, saying Grey had said, “I’m so close to knocking both of you out,” and “I’ve f**king had enough of you telling me what to do, I’ll kill you all.”
Furthering the threats, Grey also said “if you don’t leave me alone, I’ll get a bat from my van and I’ll split both your heads open, I swear to God.”
Grey got within 1m of the victims, repeating the threats while punching a closed fist into his opposite hand.
Grey admitted to the aggressive body language in court.
“I did have my fists clenched,” he said.
“I punched my hand two or three times, I was irate and angry.”
Both inspectors had been greatly affected by Grey’s actions, being left “pretty shaken up”.
“The first victim said he’s been doing the job a long time and now he’s concerned for the safety of himself and his colleague,” Mr Lee said.
The matter was adjourned to August 10.
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
