Mark William Mittelstadt: Dalby Dad chases children down street with hammer

‘I got you now you little c--t’: A fed up father took matters into his own hands and chased his daughter’s bullies down the street with a hammer. Here’s what pushed him over the edge.

Fed up with his daughter suffering at the hands of bullies, Dalby Magistrates Court heard Mark William Mittelstadt grabbed a hammer and took matters into his own hands.

Condemned for his ‘vigilante’ behaviour, the court on Tuesday heard Mittelstadt had chased group of children down a Dalby street.

Police prosecutor Chris Hutchins said the group of kids who started filming the 53-year-old man from their phone were walking down Orpen St when the father ran onto the road from Blaxland Rd after the children and shouted “I got you now you little c -- t”.

One of the children’s uncles arrived to help the kids escape who called police and presented the video footage of the Dalby man chasing them with a weapon in hand.

“Police executed a search warrant to (Mittelstadt’s property) where he stated he was armed with a bullpen hammer and showed police,” Sergeant Hutchins said.

The court heard the group of children had been harassing and bullying his daughter while at school and it had gotten so severe she was too afraid to walk home from school alone.

“They called his daughter a slut in public and threw eggs at his house,” Sergeant Hutchins said.

Sergeant Hutchins told the court despite what had been happening it was inappropriate for the father to take matters into his own hands.

“If the children’s parents approached it with the same tactic and attended his house with weapons, then we would have people in hospital.”

Mark William Mittelstadt was sentenced in Dalby Magistrates Court 2022 Picture: Facebook

Defence lawyer Julia Molloy told the court the father who had been keeping a log book of all the times the children had harassed his daughter for police, had observed the children walking alongside his home prior to the chase.

“The kids said ‘your daughter’s nothing but a s -- t’ and he lost his temper.”

Since the violent outburst, Ms Molloy told the court that the children haven’t been back to the family’s home.

Magistrate Kerrie O’Callaghan acknowledged the father’s parental nature, however, condemned him for taking matters into his own hands.

“While I understand you’re protective, it’s inappropriate behaviour,” she said.

“Vigilante behaviour is unacceptable and it could’ve gotten out of hand.”

Mittelstadt pleaded guilty to going armed as to cause fear.

He was fined $850 and no conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Mark William Mittelstadt: Dalby Dad chases children down street with hammer