Clifton man threatens child safety officers over custody disagreement

A 26-year-old Clifton father has been sentenced after making comments of a menacing nature and threatening to shoot child safety officers. FULL STORY:

A young father of four from Clifton who threatened to shoot child safety officers over a custody disagreement has faced sentence.

The 26-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared via video link from custody in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on Thursday, pleading guilty to four offences including unlawful possession of a weapon and using a carriage service to make a threat to cause serious harm.

The court heard the man threatened violence when he was aggravated by decisions made by the Department of Child Safety.

On one occasion late last year, after receiving some “adverse news”, the man asked a child safety officer how they would feel if he went to their house and kidnapped their children.

The court was told the defendant, who was 25 years old at the time, then said to the officer, “I will find out where all you c**** live. You better move. I’ve got so many resources.”

During the same conversation, he made further threats to the Department of Child Safety and told officers: “If you cut contact, I will shoot you and then shoot myself.”

At a later date, in another separate phone call with child safety officers, he became frustrated and spoke about getting a gun, stating he was going to start “shooting c****”.

The court heard he began yelling at an officer, threatening to shoot them if they called the police.

On another occasion, he told officers during a phone call that they “better move from the f*****g country” and that he would come for them.

The court was told menacing comments or threats of violence were made to child safety officers during three separate phone calls over a period of some eight months.

The man had been remanded in custody in relation to the offending since August 3.

Ipswich Magistrate Dennis Kinsella said he had taken the man’s early pleas of guilty, his young age, mental health struggles, drug addiction into consideration when deciding a sentence.

“To my mind there is a nexus or connection between obviously illicit drug use and our mental health and offending which is before the court,” Mr Kinsella said.

“Once those underlying issues are addressed, I think you are well and truly on the path to rehabilitation.”

He said that while the court accepts that dealing with the Department of Child Safety can be highly emotive, the conduct was serious.

“People who are employed by the Department of Child Safety should be entitled to go about their work, a complex task, … unimpeded by threats,” Mr Kinsella said.

“Your conduct was not only menacing but was such that it would have caused concerns as to a serious harm being exacted by you.”

The man was sentenced to four months imprisonment for offences which related to harm and two months for offences which related to menace, both to be served concurrently.

He was sentenced to seven months imprisonment for other offences, which were ordered to be suspended immediately for an operational period of 12 months from Thursday.

Convictions were recorded for all matters and his release date was set as December 3.

Originally published as Clifton man threatens child safety officers over custody disagreement