Eric William Gay banned from entering any public toilet owned by the Glenorchy City Council for two years

A man has been banned from using any public toilet in a council area over his “excessive” response to an incident at one set of loos. LATEST COURT STORIES >>

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A MYSTERY toilet block vandal at Moonah – who regularly trashed the loos, blocked the pipes and defaced the walls with slurs such as “coronavirus you maggot” – has agreed in court that his behaviour was excessive.

Moonah resident Eric William Gay, 69, appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to one count of marking graffiti and one count of committing a nuisance.

Magistrate Chris Webster heard the identity of the Main Road toilet block vandal had remained a mystery until Glenorchy City Council installed a CCTV camera and one of its managers turned up to observe Gay entering and exiting.

In September last year, significant damage in the toilet block began to appear regularly, with the rubbish bin emptied on the toilet floors and inside the toilet itself, toilet paper strewn on the ground, the pipes blocked, and graffiti marked on the walls with words such as “find another job you a...hole” and other expletives.

After CCTV was installed, Gay was regularly seen entering the toilets and staying there for a few minutes before exiting towards Albert Road, Hopkins Street or the Valern Hotel.

Gay told Mr Webster he started vandalising the toilets after he stepped on a needle there one afternoon.

“But you continued to do it, that’s a bit excessive isn’t it?” Mr Webster said.

“Yeah, I agree with that,” Gay replied.

He didn’t give an answer as to why he didn’t use his own bathroom or the toilets at the Valern Hotel, where he was a regular.

Gay was convicted and fined $400 plus costs and must be of good behaviour for two years.

Mr Webster also made an order that he not enter any public toilet owned by the Glenorchy City Council for a period of two years.

Mobile phone sends paedophile back to jail

A CONVICTED paedophile has been sentenced to two months in prison for failing to comply with reporting conditions of his parole.

The Launceston Magistrates Court was told Reginald Robert Young failed to disclose his use of a second mobile phone number and Snapchat under the usernames “Dude” and “CPTawesome”.

Under the order he was required to report to police any changes to his personal details within seven days.

In sentencing on Thursday, Magistrate Ken Stanton said Young had a history of serious offending dating back to 2010 and “had forfeited his right to private communication”.

He said Young had been provided with information on the reporting conditions that were in place until 2044 just days before and his failure to do so was “deliberate and not an oversight”.

“The usernames could have been used for further offending,” Magistrate Stanton said.

Defence lawyer James Oxley said Young had acquired the new number because his previous plan was expensive for internet use and it “wasn’t to facilitate surreptitious mobile phone use”.

Young was released on parole on December 8, 2020, with a number of conditions imposed.

The court was told he contacted an acquaintance using the username “Dude” just over a fortnight later to ask for her number, which she provided.

He then messaged her using the second phone number on December 25 with a photo caption “alone at Christmas”.

He also contacted her using the username “CPTawesome” sending her a photo captioned “bored”.

Young had met the woman on Facebook several years earlier.

Magistrate Stanton said while the woman he had contacted was an adult, he had met her over social media when she was not.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to the two counts of failing to comply earlier this year.

Young’s name is listed on the sex offenders register.

The defence said Young had been eligible for parole on Friday.

He will now not be eligible for parole for two months.

Man bashed young woman visiting her grandmother

A GAGEBROOK man who bashed a young woman visiting her elderly grandmother – dragging her across the floor by her hair and repeatedly punching her in the face – has avoided jail time.

On Thursday, Dennis Charles Campbell, 61, was given a four-month suspended jail term by the Hobart Magistrates Court and was disqualified from driving for three years.

Magistrate Chris Webster heard on June 25 last year, a 28-year-old woman was visiting her grandmother at Bridgewater when Campbell let himself into the unit.

An argument ensued between Campbell and the woman over a wallet and a set of keys.

The court heard Campbell punched the young woman’s face twice, pushed her against a wall then dragged her along the floor by her hair and upper body.

He punched her a further three times to the face, with the woman curling up into a foetal position with her arms raised to cover her face, while Campbell slapped and hit her a further eight times.

The court heard the woman’s grandmother was unable to help as she had limited mobility and relied on a walking frame.

Both women told Campbell to leave and he did so – punching the front door twice as he left, leaving a dent in it.

The victim suffered bruising and swelling to her face and a cut lip.

The court also heard that over a six-month period before the assault, Campbell committed a number of thefts including of a knife block from Spotlight, some soap and a takeaway wine holder from the Botanical Gardens, sheet sets from Harris Scarfe in Moonah, and a Black+Decker drill from K&D Warehouse – which he concealed underneath his walking frame.

Defence lawyer Philippa Willshire said Campbell was “certainly no stranger to the criminal justice system”, but had been out of trouble for the 11 years prior to last year’s run of crime.

“He has been out of that vicious cycle and unfortunately the circumstances suggest that something went wrong,” she said.

Campbell pleaded guilty to a host of charges including common assault, destroying property, evading police, stealing, breaching bail and a number of traffic offences.

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