John Alexander, left, with his assistant Jiosh Bihary / Pic: John Grainger Source: The Daily Telegraph
Richard Henricus outside / Pic: John Grainger Source: The Daily Telegraph
FOR three minutes and 15 seconds federal MP John Alexander was subjected to a non-stop tirade of threats and abuse that left him fearing for his and his family's welfare, a court heard yesterday.
He was in the office of National Party heavyweight and chief opposition whip Warren Entsch on the night of October 10 last year when he received a phone call from one of his local Liberal Party members, fundraising official Richard Henricus, Ryde Local Court heard.
"I'm going to f ... ing destroy you and your little boyfriend," Henricus said in the phone call.
"I'm going to show you how the f ... ing Liberal Party works."
Mr Alexander - the member for Bennelong - told the court that for the following three minutes Henricus continued with a tirade of threats sprinkled with profanity against him and the Liberal Party.
Henricus, 54, of Eastwood was charged with using a carriage service to menace, intimidate or threaten Mr Alexander.
After a minute of constant abuse Mr Alexander put the phone on speaker so Mr Entsch could hear what was going on, the court heard.
After the call Mr Entsch told him to ring the police.
Mr Alexander said he rang his senior adviser, Josh Bihary, Eastwood police and his family because he was so concerned about Henricus's threats.
"It was an all-encompassing threat," Mr Alexander said.
Mr Entsch confirmed Mr Alexander's testimony in court yesterday.
The court was told the problem stemmed from a meeting between Mr Alexander, Henricus and Mr Bihary in May that year.
Henricus's wife Caroline was the executive officer in charge of the Bennelong Fund, which raised money for the Liberal Party.
The court heard Mr Bihary raised concerns Henricus's wife's financial reporting obligations had not been met. Criticism of her lack of financial reporting back to the party and moves to push her out of managing the fund infuriated Henricus, the court was told, and was one of the reasons behind the phone call.
Henricus denied Mr Alexander's claims when he took the stand.
He said he and his wife had a vested interest in making the fund work and had raised $92,000.
"My mistake was saying that Caroline, one day, might want to run for the seat of Bennelong," Henricus told the court.
After that comment he said Mr Alexander terminated the meeting.
Magistrate Ellen Skinner found Henricus guilty, describing him as a "bully" and placing him on a $1000 good behaviour bond.
Ms Skinner also extended an apprehended violence sought by Mr Alexander order for another 12 months.
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