Andrew Nolch resentenced to over Eurydice Dixon’s memorial vandalism
A judge has unleashed on Andrew Nolch for his blatant disregard of his community corrections order and resentenced him over a lewd image he graffitied on a tribute to slain comedian Eurydice Dixon.
Police & Courts
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An anti-feminist who defaced a memorial to slain comedian Eurydice Dixon has been resentenced to jail after chucking sickies with his corrections officer to jetset overseas.
Andrew Nolch, 31, had initially avoided the clink and was given a chance on an 18-month community-based order after he pleaded guilty to criminal damage.
The Scientology blogger had painted a lewd image over floral tributes for Ms Dixon, 22, in Princes Park, Carlton North, where she was attacked and killed in June 2018.
He claimed the “political graffiti” was a statement for men’s rights as the media had turned Ms Dixon’s death into a “man-hating” event.
But Nolch was hauled back before County Court Judge Susan Pullen on Thursday for multiple breaches of the Community Correction Order she had imposed.
Judge Pullen dismissed suggestions by his lawyer it was “mere stupidity” and that Nolch did not understand the strict conditions of the order, including that he must not leave Victoria.
“He’s not stupid,” Judge Pullen said, before she replayed to the court 11 minutes of her original sentence where she meticulously went through each condition with Nolch who engaged, asked questions and then agreed to comply with it.
In the video she warned Nolch if he stepped out of line and returned before her for any breaches, he would be sent to jail.
“What part was not clear? I warned him,” Judge Pullen said as his lawyer asked for him to be given another chance on a CCO.
The court heard within three weeks of signing the order in March last year, Nolch skipped his unpaid community work with excuses including he missed his bus or he had other work commitments.
Then on January 28 this year, he messaged his corrections worker to say he was unwell and would not make his appointment - but instead he had flown out of the country to Asia seven days earlier.
When he returned and was asked to provide a doctor’s certificate to explain his absence, he provided a false statutory declaration.
The Japan trip came after he had taken a holiday to America in September, sparking a reminder on his return by his corrections worker of his obligations under the order.
Judge Pullen described the breaches as a “flagrant” disregard of her court order.
The court heard he also had been charged with further alleged offending, including driving while disqualified in December, and importing a commercial quantity of magic mushrooms just last month.
But Judge Pullen said they were pending matters in which she could not consider as part of resentencing for the breach.
Keeping to her promise, the experienced judge cancelled his CCO and jailed Nolch for five months. She said he must still pay the $19,500 compensation order she had imposed to the MFB and local council for clean-up costs of the graffiti he had sprayed on the memorial.