By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A SPRINGVALE man was fined $650 for criminal damage after claiming he accidentally smashed his ex-wife’s glass door while trying to “knock” on it with a rock.
Magistrate Gerard Bryant gave little credence to the accused’s claim in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
“The only person he’s fooling with that explanation is himself.
“That’s the type of explanation you’d get from a seven-year-old.
“I don’t accept for one minute that you were knocking on the glass door with a rock.”
Mr Bryant said the accused’s actions at 10.10pm on 4 November were borne of anger and frustration, and that the accused was since remorseful.
“I’m sure your ex-wife was terrified by what had happened.”
The 56-year-old accused claimed in his record of interview with police that he was upset because his wife had falsely accused him of stealing money from her.
Police served the accused with a family violence safety notice soon after the incident, preventing him from contacting his ex-wife other than for children visitation purposes.
The accused’s lawyer told the court there had been no violence since the couple divorced 10 years ago and no breaches of the intervention order since.
The accused, who migrated from Vietnam about 30 years ago, had been long-term unemployed but assisted with child payments and his ex-wife’s rent, the lawyer said.
