Lavington man told police he would 'get people' to torch custody manager's home

The incident at the Albury police station on the night of July 23 came eight days after he failed to return a car he took for a test drive.

Albury Local Court has heard the car was later found crashed into a tree at Wagga, but there was no evidence that Dwain William John McDonald was the driver.

Magistrate Sally McLaughlin said McDonald's threat to the custody manager was an especially serious aspect of the 44-year-old Lavington man's offending.

She found that given McDonald's previous failure to properly engage with community-based orders, full-time custody was the only sentencing option.

McDonald was jailed for 13 months with a non-parole period of seven, making him eligible for release on February 18, 2024.

He pleaded guilty to car theft, driving while disqualified, intimidating police, possessing a prohibited drug and break, enter and steal.

"It's not an insignificant example of the offence," Ms McLaughlin said of McDonald taking the car.

The court heard how McDonald approached the owner of the Toyota Corolla sedan on July 15 about 11am to ask about buying the vehicle.

At the time, both were staying at the Albury Central Motel in Young Street.

McDonald then requested a test drive before committing to completing the deal.

The owner told him the car was unregistered and not roadworthy, but relented and let him get behind the wheel - provided he went no further than the traffic lights at the corner of Young and Guinea streets.

McDonald agreed, so was given the keys.

About 11.20am, the owner noticed McDonald had not returned and so called police.

The car was found, unoccupied and crashed into a tree, by police in the inner Wagga suburb of Mount Austin about 10pm.

McDonald was arrested at Albury's Beer DeLuxe hotel on July 19, also about 10pm.

Four days later, about 9pm, McDonald was again found by police at Beer DeLuxe.

MORE COURT STORIES

They suspected he was carrying a knife, so he was searched then taken to the Albury police station.

It was found he was carrying an applicator tube with eight milligrams of the prescription opioid medicine buprenorphine.

While in custody, McDonald demanded that police find a receipt for the sale of the Toyota he was suspected of stealing.

When they could not find such a receipt, McDonald became aggressive, began punching the door of the station dock and threatened the custody manager with the accusation that police had stolen the receipt.

"I will open this door and f----- snap your neck, you dog, snap your neck, c---," McDonald said.

Police said McDonald then "threatened to have people burn the custody manager's house down".

Defence lawyer Louise Dart said her client's criminal record was such that he was not entitled to leniency from the court.

Ms Dart said McDonald's mental health struggles meant he would find time in jail "more onerous".

McDonald was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: