An Alfredton man who triggered a siege earlier this year after threatening to stab police in the head and saying he would 'hex' them has pleaded guilty.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 38-year-old, who The Courier cannot name as it would identify his victims, pleaded guilty to 10 charges including unlawful assault, resisting police and assaulting an emergency worker at the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Steve Kent told the court on July 20 this year, the man walked into his elderly father's bedroom with a knife in his hand and waved it around in the air while "speaking to people that weren't really there".
"(The accused) waved the knife towards the victim in a threatening manner which caused the victim to feel apprehension," he said.
When interviewed, the man told police his father may have just "wigged out".
On August 3 at his family's Alfredton home, the 38-year-old was "writing nonsense on his walls, drawing crosses and pentagrams", according to the police prosecutor. The man became angry when his father in his 80s confronted him about the drawings, and pushed him three times. He then pushed his brother for defending his father. Police were called.
The accused "aggressively" approached police as they entered the house, Senior Constable Kent said, and reached into his right jacket pocket to pull out a knife. The man retreated to his room when an officer brandished a taser, and threatened to burn the house down.
"Attempts to negotiate with the accused were fruitless, with him saying he would put hexes on police and have them killed ... expressing his love for Satan and claiming he has been shot in the head and can't die," he said.
The 38-year-old was extracted from his bedroom by members of the Critical Incident Response Team, with tactical options used.
The man's defence lawyer Scott Belcher said the man had 10 pages of prior offending and the charges were "serious matters with aggravating features", with a report stating his "poly-substance abuse was probably playing a greater role" in his actions than his bipolar disorder.
He said the man had been using cannabis since he was 14 and heroin since he was 20, despite having good family support, and now suffered from lung and stomach tumours which caused him "significant pain".
Magistrate Ron Saines told the court there was "no question" the man would be released from jail on Tuesday.
"It's highly likely the more significant contributing factor to offending that we're dealing with here is drug abuse, rather than mental health issues," he said.
The man has spent 71 days in pre-sentence detention. He will be sentenced on November 27.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.