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Mandurah man receives suspended jail setence for abusing Fisheries Officers

Vanessa SchmittMandurah Coastal Times

A MAN who threatened and abused Department of Fisheries officers was sentenced to seven months jail, suspended for 12 months, when he appeared in Mandurah Magistrates Court today .

Graham Noel Gent pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting/hindering/obstructing a fisheries officer performing her duty.

The prosecutor said two female Fisheries officers approached Gent under the Old Mandurah Bridge; Gent took a bucket and rode away.

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Gent came back and abused the female officers; he threatened to ‘bash their faces in’ and swung a bucket at them. They had to duck to avoid being hit.

The prosecutor said Gent had his fists clenched and he blocked them when they tried to escape. The officers managed to get away, but he ran after them.

He circled the officers with his bike and a member of the public got between the officers and Gent, while another bystander called police.

It was one of the officers’ first day on the field.

The court was told Gent had an extensive history of violence.

Gent said the officers approached him in an inappropriate manner and he was only showing them the empty bucket.

He said he could not remember threatening to hurt them, but admitted getting carried away with his verbal abuse.

“My life was in turmoil,” he said.

Magistrate Vivien Edwards described Gent’s behaviour as disgusting.