Homeless man in court for threatening wife with rock

The Gympie court was told that an argument over where their campsite should be escalated and the 46-year-old man threatened to hurt his wife and stopped her from escaping.

The Gympie court was told that an argument over where their campsite should be turned escalated before the 46-year-old man threatened to hurt his wife and stopped her from escaping​

A 46-year-old Gympie region man was convicted on contravening a domestic violence order by Gympie Magistrates Court on Monday after he threatened to attack a woman with a large rock during an argument.

He pleaded guilty to committing the offence in April, 2021.

Police prosecutor Michael Phillips told the court the man and his wife were homeless, camping on a vacant block of land.

He said the incident began when they started arguing over whether to move their campsite and set new tents up elsewhere.

“The aggrieved then made some comments to the defendant, which angered him,” he said.

Sergeant Phillips said the man swore at his wife, before picking up a large rock.

This made the woman scream, and she ran to their nearby car with the man following closely behind her.

“The defendant had his hand raised with the rock in it, appearing like he was going to throw it (at her),” Sergeant Phillips said.

He said the woman was in the front driver’s seat with the door open, and the keys were in the ignition.

This led to a struggle between the woman and the man over the keys, which ended with him taking the keys and walking back to the campsite while the woman called 000.

Defence lawyer N. Maywell told the court her client did not intend to harm the woman with the rock.

“He was holding the rock as a threat to throw, with no intention to throw,” she said.

“He says they had a stupid argument, it was hot on that particular day and neither of them were happy with their surroundings and the circumstances regarding their living arrangements.”

She said this led to her client losing his temper, and he is remorseful for his actions.

She also said he had no prior convictions of any nature, and this was his first offence.

He was fined $400 and his conviction was not recorded.

Originally published as Homeless man in court for threatening wife with rock