JAILED FOR LOUD RADIO
SHARLAND Rd Corio got a little quieter yesterday when Geelong’s noisiest neighbour was jailed.
Alex Boros, 42, was locked up for four months after being found guilty of resisting police and three bail breaches where he refused to follow police directions to turn his highpowered stereo down.
Boros was also slugged $2800 in fines for repeatedly playing the stereo at unreasonable levels and failing to obey police direction to abate the noise.
A fan of Geelong FM station K-Rock, Boros was found guilty of 16 charges when he represented himself in Geelong Magistrates’ Court last week.
Magistrate Michael Coghlan told Boros a jail sentence was likely, advising him to get a lawyer by the time the matter returned to court yesterday.
But Boros came unrepresented, and his application for a further adjournment was rejected.
Mr Coghlan said the pensioner had been given ample opportunity to seek a lawyer, pointing out he had been on bail for the resisting charge since January 29.
On that occasion, the man held a glass stubby above his head in a threatening way when approached by police on his veranda, struggled with them and had to be capsicum-sprayed.
Mr Boros said there’d been a lot happening in his life, and he had not had time to “get my sh-t sorted”, or seek treatment for constant ringing in his ears.
He also said his home was burgled on one recent occasion when he was taken into custody. “I haven’t been able to get a psychiatrist for three years,” he said.
“The only thing that helps is turning my radio up and trying to block it out.”
Mr Coghlan said the man had been a pest to his neighbours and a burden on police for at least five years, noting he was often aggressive to officers when they attended his home.
The offences outlined in court last week all happened on or near public holidays earlier this year, including Australia Day, Labour Day, Anzac Day and the Queen’s Birthday. But Boros pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The magistrate was told officers had, on some occasions, been forced to switch off Mr Boros’ electricity at the meter box because he had declined their direction to turn the noise down, and he often told them to “f--k off”.
Mr Coghlan pointed to the man’s priors for noise offences in 2012, 2013, 2014 and January 2017, less than three weeks before the January 29 matter. “I’m sure there are many other tasks police have to perform that are higher in priority than going to your house to ask you to turn the volume down,” the magistrate said.
“I take into account as an aggravating feature the significant police time needed to respond to complaints.”