11 of the most bizarre court cases heard in the Northern Territory so far in 2024

Meth smuggled in a penis extender, a Viagra backfire and midnight meat muggers are some of the cases that had judges scratching their heads this year. READ THE FULL LIST.

Darwin Local Court is the scene of depredation and horror, but also mirth and absurdity. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Spend a day in the Territory’s ever-busy courts and you will see all manner of human depravity, cruelty and desperation.

Yet, this being the NT, you also come across cases that tickle you pink.

These are the ones that made us spit out our Weet-Bix in 2024.

George John Livanidis: Crystal rock in imported cock

Bakewell man Livanidis, 32, is your bog-standard hard drug importer.

What was not standard, however, was the receptacle in which he attempted to smuggle 111.9g of pure methamphetamine in: a silicone penis extender.

Livanidis had ordered the drugs from the United States, the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory at Darwin heard in May, but Australian Border Force officers detected the drug consignment in Sydney.

Bakewell man George John Livanidis, 32. Picture: Facebook

The defendant was arrested on July 13, 2023 when he attempted to collect the penis extender and its illicit cargo from Casuarina Post Office.

He pleaded guilty to a commonwealth charge of attempting to import a marketable quantity of methamphetamine and was sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 21 months.

Troy Jerome John Dowling: Crim with a conscience

Dowling, 34, who Darwin Local Court heard in February was in the grips of an ice addiction, took his mate out for a beer on September 14, 2023, then took him to the cleaners by raiding his Moil residence a few hours later.

In the company of two accomplices, Dowling pilfered $200 cash, five fishing rods, a camera, vacuum pump, and tools including a laser level, bolt chainsaw, and a spanner set, most of which was never recovered.

Darwin man Troy Jerome John Dowling, 34. Picture: Facebook

He may be a crook but let no-one say Dowling is without a soul, because a short while after the burglary, the defendant texted his mate: “Hey my brother, I’m f---ing terribly embarrassed … (there’s) nothing in this world I can do to make it up to you.”

Dowling pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary of a dwelling, theft, and damage to property.

Taking into account other guilty pleas for unrelated offending, Dowling was sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment with a 14 month non-parole period, backdated to his arrest and remand on October 18, 2023.

James Ryan Whitcombe: The bra-sonist

Palmerston sparky Whitcombe, who is aged in his mid-twenties, contrived to burn most of his mother’s house down when he drunkenly set fire to clothing items, including a racy bra, belonging to his sister.

Darwin Local Court heard in August at Whitcombe’s sentencing hearing the items of clothing in question had been the source of family angst, and the intoxicated sparky decided to settle the question once and for all on August 5, 2023.

Palmerston electrician James Ryan Whitcombe, 25. Picture: Facebook

Defence lawyer Samuel Davison said his client didn’t mean to burn his mum’s Humpty Doo residence to the ground: he had first tried to rip the clothing, but set the last two items alight when they couldn’t be torn.

Whitcombe pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated damage to property and was fined $1500.

Benjamin John Ortiz: Spank the McMonkey

Two 14-year-olds were enjoying a feed at McDonald’s Stuart Park on July 14 last year when they witnessed 44-year-old father Ortiz gawking at them and “acting suspiciously” while appearing to film them, the Supreme Court at Darwin heard in March.

The moment may have passed but for the fact a well-placed window showed Ortiz had removed his penis under the table and was fondling himself.

After they left, CCTV captured Ortiz secretly filming other women and girls in the restaurant.

Two days later after the teenagers reported the incident NT Police arrested Ortiz.

Analysis of his mobile phone revealed Ortiz was a dedicated peeping tom who had papped dozens of unsuspecting women in public.

He pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and recording an indecent image of a child.

His sentence was suspended after the seven months he spent on remand.

Mareko Gibson Nai: Lights, camera, jail

Groote Eylandt landscaper Nai, 49, pleaded guilty in August in the Supreme Court at Darwin to commercial drug supply and receiving the proceeds of crime following his arrest in December 2022.

Sourcing the drugs from Cairns, he sold them at a healthy profit.

Good businessman he may be, smart criminal he was not.

He sent a selfie posing in front of 4.5kg of cannabis, so when police raided him a short time later and found most of the cannabis missing, they knew he had been hard at work.

Nai was jailed for three years and six months, suspended immediately after the eight months he spent on remand.

David Bruce Richardson: The boners are better at Hungry Jacks

Richardson, 51, went through Coolalinga Hungry Jacks drive-through with his erection exposed after a “super Viagra” fuelled orgy “backfired quite dramatically,” Darwin Local Court heard in January.

He took the substance, hilariously known as ‘Pit Bull Super’ (which promises a four-day erection), and had fun at the orgy, but on the way home began panicking after his penis began “splitting” due to the pressure, Richardson’s lawyer told the court.

David Bruce Richardson, 51, leaves the Darwin Local Court after pleading guilty to indecent exposure following an incident in which he exposed his erect penis to a drive through attendant at the Coolalinga Hungry Jacks in September 2023. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Richardson was hungry so he stopped at the fast food restaurant, but was unable to cover his erection with a towel for the benefit of the poor employee manning the window because to place any weight on it caused too much agony.

He pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and was placed on a good-behaviour bond.

Cy Robert John Morris: Buried treasure, but cops have a map

Mumbling would-be cocaine kingpin Morris, 42, buried $1.5m worth of Colombian snow on the Darwin Esplanade while police watched his every move, the Supreme Court at Darwin heard in September.

Morris arrived in Darwin alongside his wife and child in May 2023, having driven from their home in Mullumbimby, NSW.

A cache of more than 3kg of cocaine and $100,000 in cash found in a canoe drum buried near the cenotaph at the Darwin Esplanade. Cy Robert John Morris has pleaded guilty to commercial drug supply and dealing in the proceeds of crime after burying the stash in May 2023. Picture: NTPFES

He picked up a canoe drum along the way, burying it on the Esplanade, but little did he know he was already on police’s radar, and they watched his every move as he visited a number of locations around Darwin before returning to the drum and filling it with more than 3kg of cocaine and $100,000 in cash.

Morris pleaded guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine and possessing the proceeds of crime.

He was jailed for seven years and eight months, with parole eligibility in 2027.

Melissa Anne Prentos: Busted flush

A highly intoxicated Prentos, 44, was refused entry to Mindil Beach Casino Resort on February 24 this year but security guards took pity on her request to use the ladies room and let her inside, Darwin Local Court heard a month later.

LJ Hooker accountant Melissa Prentos pleaded guilty to multiple assaults on police and security guards at Mindil Beach Casino. Picture: Linked In

Yet the businesswoman showed little gratitude: Prentos refused to leave the toilet, barricading herself in and started kicking and screaming as the security worker who let her inside originally tried to remove her.

Once she was finally muscled out – assaulting the guard in the process – Prentos then marched up to a nearby police officer and attempted to complain about her ejection.

She pleaded guilty to assault and was fined $3200, but escaped a conviction due to her employment.

Mohammed Tasleem Dean Tahir: A wee fight

Truck-driver Tahir, 35, was drunk and angry after being cut off from the bar at the iconic Daly Waters Pub on June 4, 2022, when the driver went to relieve himself somewhere he shouldn’t have, Darwin Local Court heard in September.

While urinating, Tahir, described by the court as a “big unit”, noticed another man filming him.

Adelaide truck driver Mohammed Tasleem Dean Tahir, 35, leaving Darwin Local Court after pleading guilty to an aggravated assault for slapping another man at Daly Waters Pub, 276km south of Katherine. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The court heard the larger Tahir slapped the man in the face, which also knocked the victim’s phone to the ground.

His defence lawyer said it was a “stupid, spontaneous act”.

Tahir pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was placed on an 18 month community corrections order. He also had to pay $3000 compensation.

Robert and David Daw: Midnight meat muggers

Katherine brothers Robert and David Daw robbed one of their regular bushmeat customers at the point of a shotgun, forgetting the fact that he would instantly be able to identify them once he inevitably reported the matter to cops.

In May last year, the Daws were drinking at home when, at about 2.20am, they resolved to rob the man, arming themselves with a sawn-off shotgun, the Supreme Court at Darwin heard in September.

The pair discharged the shotgun twice to scare the man into submission, and made off with all of $200 (their victim was a pensioner).

Justice John Reeves described the robbery as “irrational”.

Both men were charged with aggravated armed robbery. Robert pleaded guilty, David was found guilty at trial.

They were each jailed for seven years with a non-parole period of five years.

Phillip John Silverthorne: Signed, sealed and delivered

Detectives, having gained intelligence on Silverthorne’s cross-border drug importation scheme, were conducting a search warrant on a Darwin Airbnb that Silverthorne was using as his home base when the defendant walked in with a brown bag containing $42,000 cash.

The cash was, of course, proceeds of the 43-year-old father’s cannabis operation, and he had been caught red-handed (or is that green-handed?).

Phillip John Silverthorne, 43. Picture: Facebook

All up, the Airbnb contained 13.6kg of cannabis, “multiple” mobile phones, $24,000 cash (in addition to Silverthorne’s kitty), unused clipseal bags, and a drug ledger, his sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court at Darwin in June heard.

Silverthorne and his co-offender pleaded guilty to a charge each of supplying a commercial quantity of cannabis.

Silverthorne was sentenced to two years and 10 months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole order of one year and five months.

Originally published as 11 of the most bizarre court cases heard in the Northern Territory so far in 2024