Carpenter sentenced for damaging bed frame with a machete

The man pleaded guilty to one charge of damaging property and consented to an apprehended domestic violence order to protect the victim.

The offender is not named to protect the identity of the victim.

"Where did he buy a machete? Bunnings? Seems to be an extraordinary number of those in the community," magistrate Gary Wilson said in court.

"I have never heard of this until I moved to Dubbo," police prosecutor Amy Jenner replied.

"Seems to be a weapon of choice," Mr Wilson said.

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Court documents reveal the couple have been together for about two years and each live with their respective grandparents. They had been living together at different addresses, but due to recent "tension and arguments", they arranged to live separately.

On Sunday, January 15, the pair were arguing in the man's grandparents house about 11.45am, in the garage that had been renovated into a bedroom. The man became angry and armed himself with a machete.

Police said he swung the machete around and eventually used it to strike the bed frame. The weapon remained lodged in the top left hand post of the frame.

The man's grandmother heard the victim screaming and crying and went in to the garage to check.The offender had left the location.

His grandmother "preemptively" removed the machete from the bed frame and placed it under her pillow in her bedroom, according to police.

About 12.10pm, police arrived at the address. The man was standing in the corner of the backyard when police spoke to him about the machete. He admitted to possessing it and wielding it which led to his arrest a short time later.

Police got a victim statement that described the intimidation and damage to the bedframe which they both owned and had put money towards. The witness, the man's grandmother, was also questioned.

In court, on February 8, defence solicitor Zoe Huijer said it was "certainly concerning behaviour". She said her client had schizophrenia and was not being medicated for it, police confirmed this fact.

"[He] wasn't on medication at the time, he's diagnosed with schizophrenia. He feels more mellow now as a result of taking those medications on daily basis," Ms Huijer said.

The man had previously been sentenced to a conditional release order for another matter which he completed.

"He doesn't want to be here in 20 years having witnessed other people in the court room today," the defence said.

The magistrate told the offender he found the facts "quite disturbing".

"You're in possession of a machete, there's no reason for an individual to have one from my perspective. As you've heard it's becoming more and more often as a weapon of choic particularly by younger people...," Mr Wilson said.

"In relation to the offending, I find it quite disturbing, the manner in which it was done. She was in the bedroom as well, what could possibly go wrong... it could have been extremely worse."

Mr Wilson sentenced the carpenter to a year-long community correction order and put an ADVO in place for two years.

"If you breach those orders you'll be back here and re-sentenced. Only way from there is full-time imprisonment. Got the message?," he said.

"Yes," said the 19-year-old man.

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