Man’s threat to ’assassinate’ MP

A Whittington man abused and threatened to assassinate a State Government minister during a string of out-of-hours phone calls to an office answering machine, Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard this week.
The court was told Nicholas McNamara, 24, of Wilsons Rd, made direct threats to Roads and Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder after a bad experience with a bus.
Police Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable David Vanderpol told the court McNamara left three abusive voice messages on Mr Mulder’s answering machine about 10.30am on November 11.
“During the first call he complained about a lack of public transport and that he had made a complaint in the past and it wasn’t acted upon. During the call the accused was abusive towards Mr Mulder, swearing and calling him names,” Sen Const Vanderpol said.
“In the second call he made a direct threat saying the victim would be the first politician to be assassinated.”
Snr Const Vanderpol said McNamara’s “ranting” was increasingly “incoherent”.
McNamara made full admissions to police after his arrest on November 22.
McNamara’s defence lawyer said his client was remorseful and “distressed and concerned” about his behaviour.
A doctor’s letter said McNamara suffered Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, and had an inability to control his anger.
“People with this condition have an inability to understand the social ramifications of their comments,” his defence said.
The court heard that McNamara contacted Mr Mulder after missing a bus on November 10, being treated badly by a bus driver and receiving a “stock standard reply” from Public Transport Victoria to his complaints.
“Because the buses were running on Sunday I (thought) the bosses should be in on Sunday,” McNamara said in court.
A corrections assessment recommended against ordering unpaid work because adequate supervision was unavailable.
“I wouldn’t want to place him on a work team with other offenders,” a corrections officer told the court.
Magistrate Stephen Myall convicted McNamara and placed him on a 12-month community corrections order for “treatment and rehabilitation regarding mental health issues to reduce the risk of re-offending”.