Andrew Nolch set to avoid jail for defacing Eurydice Dixon memorial
AN anti-feminist who defaced murdered woman Eurydice Dixon’s memorial with a lewd image looks set to avoid jail, despite not showing remorse.
Law & Order
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AN anti-feminist who defaced murdered comedian Eurydice Dixon’s memorial looks set to avoid jail — despite not being remorseful.
Andrew Nolch, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today.
His plea came as supporters of Ms Dixon were sensationally thrown out of court amid claims of bullying and threatening behaviour towards Nolch.
The court heard how Nolch painted a 25m-long lewd picture around the floral tribute for Ms Dixon in Princes Park, Carlton North, in the early hours of June 18.
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Prosecutor Alistair Macpherson said the scrawling was of a “vulgar nature” which caused public outrage at a time of mourning.
Ms Dixon was attacked and killed at the park as she walked home from a comedy gig in the CBD on June 12.
Jaymes Todd, 19, of Broadmeadows, is charged with her rape and murder.
Senior Constable Macpherson said Nolch had done everything to avoid detection, using gloves to not leave fingerprints, and even turning his mobile phone off.
CCTV captured him at Bunnings in Preston a day earlier purchasing gloves and paint.
He drove to the site just after 3am on June 18 and scrawled the offensive drawing.
Nolch told police he also planned to throw toilet paper all around the site, but fled when he saw a police patrol car approaching just before 4am.
He said he did it because he “wanted to annoy feminists” and “wanted media attention”.
In a social media post following his arrest, Nolch remarked: “I did it because I was upset that vaccines caused the killer’s autism.”
Defence lawyer Glenn Thexton tried to explain Nolch’s motive, saying he was angered by media reports implying all men were bad following Ms Dixon’s murder.
“He says he didn’t intend to cause offence to the victim or her family,” Mr Thexton said. “His main focus was to make a political statement.”
Magistrate Olivia Trumble condemned his behaviour and questioned why he has such strong antifeminism views.
When she asked if he had remorse, Mr Thexton said: “He’s not remorseful for painting the graffiti.”
Asked if Nolch had ever seen a psychologist, his lawyer said no.
“I consider this to be a very serious example of this offence,” Ms Trumble said.
She was not sympathetic when Mr Thexton raised concerns about threats made to Nolch on social media, and from members of the public inside the court complex.
“He himself said he wanted to cause as much outrage as possible,” she said, repeating Nolch’s words to police when initially interviewed.
Ms Trumble ordered Nolch undergo an assessment for a community correction order, before returning before her on Monday to be sentenced.
He agreed to paying $19,000 in restitution — $5000 of which was the MFB’s costs to clean up the site, and $14,000 from the council who had to replace 400sq/m of turf at the park.
The court was closed to everyone but the parties involved, Nolch’s parents and the media in a rare move to kick out who Mr Thexton described as “feminists” who had been harassing his client throughout the court building during the day.
He said one woman barged into a court interview room where Nolch was waiting, saying: “I will hunt you down after the case.”
Other threats were also made that he would be bashed out on the streets.
Outside court, protester Helena Puellae took aim at Nolch, holding a sign saying: “You can’t speak for good men. Good men stand with victims.”
Ms Puellae said she was “frustrated” she was not allowed to hear the proceedings, adding Nolch’s actions were “completely inappropriate”.
“There were so many people mourning … and the first response from him is to deface the memorial,” she said.
Nolch would not say anything about his offending as he left the court, but did answer “yes” when asked if he feared for his life.