An Officer man has indicated he’ll contest charges of threatening “serious harm” and making a “menacing” social-media post towards Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Dale Byrne, 42, who faces potential jail time if found guilty, appeared briefly at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 10 July.
His defence lawyer Dimitri Osianlis requested a date for a contest mention hearing.
According to charge sheets, Byrne made a post on social-media platform X towards Mr Albanese in “a manner that a reasonable person would regard as menacing” on 7 February.
He was also charged with “threatening to cause serious harm” to a Commonwealth official, namely Mr Albanese on the same day.
The latter charge, laid by an Australian Federal Police officer in Sydney, was “punishable by up to 7 years imprisonment”, according to charge sheets.
In an earlier hearing in June, AAP reported that magistrate Fran Medina approved the charge sheets’ release under the Opens Courts Act and noted the charges were only allegations at this stage.
She asked media to state the two offences were the “subject of negotiation”.
Byrne was bailed to appear at a contest mention at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 4 September.
His bail terms remained, which included that he can’t come within 100 metres of state or federal politicians including Mr Albanese, according to an AAP report in June.
