Pamela Connellan
Legal

Judge blasts 69-year-old lockdown protester who assaulted police

The lockdown protester threw pepper at police during a wild protest rally in Sydney, prompting the Magistrate to admonish him – “Shame on you.”

A number of anti-lockdown protestors faced sentencing at the Downing Centre Local Court this week but it was 69-year-old Ron Mclean who felt the fury of the magistrate.

The Summer Hill man pleaded guilty to assaulting police and failing to comply with health orders.

Police state Mclean threw pepper in the face of one officer. He then threatened if he had a gun, he would have shot police and if he had a knife, he would have stabbed them.

At the court, Mclean was given a suspended jail sentence of 12 months and a $200 fine. But he’d caught the eye of Magistrate Jennifer Giles and she made some strong remarks about his behaviour.

“It cannot have escaped, even someone like you ... we are in the midst of a pandemic ... it’s a national emergency,” she said.

“People need to pull their weight…At this moment police are hanging by their fingernails - shame on you,” Giles admonished the man.

In his defence, Mclean said: “I haven’t been out of my house for months.”

“All I did was hop on my bike and go for a ride around the corner.

“I didn’t even know that was on. I don’t own a phone. I don’t even own a smart TV or anything.”

Image: 7NEWS

Tags:
Lockdown protest, protestor, Downing Centre, Ron Mclean, protest rally, anti-lockdown protest