A man who traveled for three days from central Queensland to answer a charge he threatened to kill his stepmother has had the journey taken into account on sentence.
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But magistrate Richard Funston told Daniel Charles Weatherby that his offending nevertheless warranted "a significant fine".
The 42-year-old, from West Gladstone, was convicted and hit for $1000 on charges of stalk or intimidate and use a carriage service to threaten to kill.
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"But you don't get another chance like this," Mr Funston told Weatherby.
"Next time you will be getting a jail sentence."
Mr Funston told Weatherby that while he might have traveled a long way to face sentence, this was still "better than an arrest warrant".
Weatherby appeared to be pleased with the outcome, which stemmed from him leaving eight messages loaded with abusive language and threats on the victim's mobile phone over 12 minutes on November 15.
"Thank you for the court's time," he said to Mr Funston before he turned and left the courtroom.
Earlier, Weatherby - who failed to appear in Albury Local Court as required in January - said he had known his stepmother for 30 years.
"I should never have spoken to (the victim) like that."
The woman had refused to reply to an earlier set of messages left by Weatherby in which he said he wanted to ask his father a question.
"The victim does not have a good relationship with the accused and so did not reply to the message," police said.
In the final message, Weatherby could be heard to yell: "F ... ing slut, you f ... with my mum and dad, I'm going to kill you."