By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A DOVETON man has pleaded guilty to sending a series of sexually explicit messages to his ex-partner and recklessly igniting a gas-filled, booby-trapped house.
The 63-year-old was charged with stalking the victim by sending 81 texts and emails between late May and late July, including offensive descriptions of sex acts, pictures of bondage gear and his genitals.
The victim, who had moved out of their Doveton house in April, was forced to leave her volunteer workplace due to his frequent visits, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court was told on Monday.
The accused allegedly told police his emails were “out of character”.
“I don’t know what I was thinking at the time.
“I bought $200 of stuff (bondage apparel) and I wanted to show her.”
On 1 August – a week after being arrested and bailed – the man allegedly emailed a suicide note to the victim.
He threatened to fill his house with gas, as well as pour acid on the victim’s face and hurt her son.
That evening, police making a welfare check found a note at the accused’s front door.
It warned that any attempts to enter or turn off power and gas would spark a gas-fuelled explosion in the house.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Liz Millear told the court that the accused, who was inside, held police at bay for five hours as the CFA helped to ventilate the house.
About 11pm, the man allegedly set fire to parts at the rear of the house prompting police to enter, arrest him and take him to hospital for a mental health assessment.
They discovered an open oven with its gas outlets left on, as well as “items of police uniform” in the bedroom.
About $80,000 damage was allegedly caused by the fire.
The accused was charged with arson, recklessly putting people in danger of death, unlawfully possessing items of police uniform, and threatening to harm the victim.
Defence lawyer Bernard Keating said it was a “disturbing case on so many levels”.
He said the accused had not been “actively doing” anything to police during the siege and that some of the seized uniforms were US army items obtained from a friend.
The accused had been admitted to Monash Medical Centre psychiatric unit earlier in the year, Mr Keating said.
“He’s clearly had mental issues.”
A Monash Health forensic nurse told the court that the man, who had been treated for depression for 25 years, had not been taking the prescribed levels of his anti-depressants at the time.
A psychologist assessed the man as not being a self-harm risk on 7 August, she told the court.
She said he had a “depressed mood” and adjustment disorder but showed no signs of psychosis.
“Basically, there’s nothing wrong with him,” magistrate Jack Vandersteen responded.
“Could not that be applied to many people in the community?”
Mr Vandersteen, in requesting a forensic psychological report, said there was a “clear escalation in this behaviour”.
If no mental health issues lay behind the offending, the accused’s moral culpability would be high, he said.
“I want to know what sits behind it.”
The man was remanded to appear at a sentencing hearing at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 16 October.
