Crazy calls land bond
A MAN who created an online group crawling with conspiracy theories will walk free from jail on a good behaviour bond, after he threatened to shoot a police officer in the head.
Daniel Joseph Carter made more than 100 “incoherent” and abusive rambling calls in July, September and December 2020, accusing police of torturing people. Carter, 39, cried during his sentencing in Townsville District Court on Tuesday, where he appeared via video link from Capricornia Correctional Centre.
He pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including using a carriage service to make a threat to kill, using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence and improper use of emergency call service.
Prosecutor Sam Lanskey described Carter’s offending as “without justification”. On July 21 and 23, Carter called the Mackay courthouse 60 times, telling staff he owned firearms and told a female staff member she needed “shock therapy”, and threatened to come and “arrest” a local magistrate.
Carter made so many calls the staff had to stop answering the phones.
He also made calls to the Mackay Child Protection Investigation Unit and tactical crime squad. In September,
Carter called his ex-partner’s workplace and said he “cut her dog’s throat” and threatened to do the same to her.
In calls to triple-0, Carter labelled himself a “civil rights activist” and compared himself to an American murderer. On September 12, Carter called triple-0 29 times and “ranted about torture and shock therapy”.
On December 24, Carter called three South East Queensland police stations, including the Mount Gravatt Police Station 50 times in 45 minutes – announcing himself as a “sovereign citizen”.
He threatened to shoot a Holland Park police officer in the head, and told an officer at Cleveland police station he was “exempt” from Australian laws.
Carter claimed police were torturing people, and cited unrelated United Nations policies.
Defence barrister Scott Mclennan said Carter had felt “aggrieved” after a term of involuntary mental health treatment in 2012, and had started a Facebook group for people to share their experiences.
Taking into account his 199 days in custody, Carter was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, released immediately into a $2000 good behaviour bond with an operational period of two years.