Court orders mental health report for alleged McDonald’s bomb hoaxer Mark Robert Williams

The man accused of a disturbing bomb hoax at a McDonald’s restaurant has appeared in court where a couple of issues were addressed.

The man accused of organising a disturbing bomb threat at a suburban McDonald’s in Adelaide’s outer north could be suffering from serious mental health challenges, a court has been told.

Mark Robert Williams fronted Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Friday, some two weeks after he allegedly pretended to have a bomb in his bag at a Salisbury Plain McDonald’s restaurant.

The alleged hoax took place about 7.45pm on June 4, with police and bomb squad technicians racing to the scene on reports Mr Williams had left a bag inside the restaurant after claiming it contained a bomb.

He was arrested and charged with creating the false belief that life has been lost or endangered.

Bomb technicians raced to the McDonald’s restaurant on the night of June 4. Picture: 7News Adelaide

“Patrols quickly evacuated the area and detained the man,” South Australian Police said at the time.

“Technicians from the Bomb Response Unit attended and determined that there were no explosives in the bag.”

Mr Williams has remained on remand since then.

On Friday, defence lawyer Kassandra Girolamo, for Mr Williams, notified magistrate Lana Chester that her client would withdraw his bail application after failing to find a suitable home detention address.

“Unfortunately, at the moment there is no housing available to Mr Williams,” she said.

The bomb squad did not find any explosives in the bag. Picture: 7News Adelaide

The 44-year-old man, from Parafield Gardens, interacted with a social worker and an NDIS worker, the court was told.

Ms Girolamo said the facts of the case may intersect with mental health issues and asked Ms Chester to order a forensic report into Mr Williams’ psychiatric condition now and in the past.

“As far as dealing with these matters moving forward, Your Honour would be aware of the facts in this matter, they do perhaps raise some questions regarding any mental health issues that Mr Williams suffers from,” she said.

Ms Chester ordered the report and adjourned the matter until July 7.

Mr Williams, appearing via videolink, interrupted the proceedings at times, talking in a halting manner.

Originally published as Court orders mental health report for alleged McDonald’s bomb hoaxer Mark Robert Williams