Chris Morrd Richards, also known as Christopher James Richards, gestures towards the media after being granted bail. Photo: Albert McKnight.
A chaotic hearing ensued in Canberra’s courts after a man was accused of threatening a federal senator from Victoria.
Chris Morrd Richards, also known as Christopher James Richards, repeatedly interrupted proceedings and, at least twice, got off his chair to sit under the desk in front of him when he faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday (30 October).
Earlier, an ACT Policing spokesperson alleged he left a threatening voicemail on the office phone of a federal senator on 4 October.
“The incident was reported to the AFP and referred to ACT Policing after enquiries linked the 43-year-old man to the call,” the spokesperson said.
Police raided his home in Bonython this week where they seized a mobile phone, and he was handed one count of using a carriage service to menace.
Mr Richards faced court over an audio-visual link on Thursday (30 October), already speaking to corrections officers in the room with him.
“They are treating me as a second-class person in relation to my disability,” he said.
He applied for bail, which the prosecution opposed, but had to prove that special or exceptional circumstances existed in his case to obtain it, given that he was already facing unrelated charges.
Legal Aid’s Donovan Kelso said his client told him he would be in significant danger if he were remanded in custody.
His client said he’d had interactions with people at Canberra’s jail whom he described as “very violent”.
“He believes he will be in danger very quickly if he is remanded,” Mr Kelso said.
By this time, Magistrate James Lawton had already repeatedly told Mr Richards to stop interrupting the proceedings as he had continued to talk over the lawyers.
Magistrate Lawton did not allow the prosecutor to make his own submissions on why he opposed bail before saying he would grant it.
He found special or exceptional circumstances existed in the case due to the concerns about him going into custody, and also said he did not want to waste any more time on the matter.
The matter was adjourned to 5 November. No plea was entered.
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