Accused 'standover' man makes violent threats to kill over $200 debt

Police say Brett O'Neill, 44, was seen in the front yard of his Camperdown home on February 11, 2024, agitated and wearing a motorbike helmet.

He allegedly told police he was waiting for three men and he would "leave bodies all over the lawn".

The man faced Warrnambool Magistrates Court the following day where he made a successful bail application.

Leading Senior Constable Anthony Graham told the court the man appeared drug affected and there were concerns he would act out the threat due to his previous history of weapon offences, which included manufacturing his own guns.

He said the man, who is on a firearm prohibition order, was told his house would be searched for weapons.

While nothing was found police allege there was drug paraphernalia at the property, including used syringes and glass pipes used to smoke ice.

Leading Senior Constable Graham alleged Mr O'Neill then made a second violent threat to kill the men.

He said the man was arrested because police were concerned for the safety of the alleged victims.

The officer said it was then revealed Mr O'Neill allegedly had a festering grudge over a $200 debt he believed he was owed by two of the men.

He said over a two-month period Mr O'Neill had sent numerous threatening messages via text and Facebook, although no charges had been laid yet.

The court heard the man had a long criminal history involving stints in jail for breaches of firearm prohibition orders, threats, assaults, and "lots" of weapon offences.

"It's my understanding from local members who have dealt with him that he's capable of constructing his own firearms with pipes," Leading Senior Constable Graham said.

He said one of the victims was "sick to death" of the messages and feared sooner or later there'd be an altercation.

The court heard Mr O'Neill was already on bail for making threats to kill a woman over an alleged stolen car.

A police prosecutor said Mr O'Neill was "essentially a standover man in Camperdown who makes numerous threats, placing numerous members of the public in fear".

"It's known he has capacity to carry weapons, to make firearms, and it's concerning he's acting erratically like that in the middle of the night," she said.

She said there were fears if police weren't patrolling the area at the time, and hadn't found him in his front yard in an agitated state, it "may well have escalated into something more serious".

A lawyer for Mr O'Neill told the court her client had a number of physical health issues, including diabetes and a broken shoulder from a recent motorbike accident.

She made a successful bail application on behalf of her client, who was released from custody with strict conditions, including an overnight curfew, that he not use drugs and comply with an order prohibiting contact with the alleged victims.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said if the man kept re-offending, he would spend longer and longer in custody.

"You seem to get yourself in an awful lot of strife in not keeping your mouth shut at times when it would be a mighty good idea to just walk away," he said, in which Mr O'Neill replied "I know".

The accused man will face court again at a later date.