Man jailed for threatening to headbutt Premier Mark McGowan

AN intoxicated who burst into Mark McGowan’s Rockingham electorate office because he wanted to ‘headbutt’ the premier has been sent to prison.

Craig Dodds appeared in custody at Rockingham Magistrates Court today where he pleaded guilty to four charges including behaving in a disorderly manner in public, being armed or pretending to be armed to cause fear and possession of cannabis.

The prosecutor said Dodds had gone to the office “ranting about a bike”.

“He was swearing and ranting about a bike and then he got close to the glass security panel in the reception and stated ‘he was going to headbutt the Premier’,” she said.

“He is known to Mr McGowan’s staff and they have had problems with him in the past.

“He was intoxicated at the time.”

On December 18 at 2.15pm he was in the carpark of the Rockingham Hotel on a bike with a bow and two arrows.

He then began walking around presenting the bow and arrow to members of the public when there were children around at the time.

He was later arrested on warrant.

He was searched by police who found a brown paper bag with 174.3g of cannabis in it and a smaller bag with 2.24g in it.

He told police he found the big bag in bushland across from the police station but the smaller bag was his.

The duty lawyer said the facts were accepted and asked for a sentence that would not be crushing as his offences breached two Suspended Imprisonment Orders from January and May 2018.

Magistrate Vivien Edwards said he committed similar offences often.

“These offences indicate you have a propensity to behave in that manner in public and your record has prior convictions for drug matters,” she said.

“I can see no cause for why it would be unjust to send you to prison.

“Although I will reduce the term for the early guilty pleas so it is not crushing.”

He was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment and will be eligible for parole.

He was fined $800 for the disorderly stunt at Mark McGowan’s office.