Bjorn Andrew Wilson: Binnu farmer pleads guilty to extreme domestic violence offending over years

A 48-year-old Mid West farmer will be sentenced later this week after admitting to subjecting his former partner to serious domestic violence over a five-and-a-half-year period. Bjorn Andrew Wilson appeared in Geraldton District Court on Tuesday. He had pleaded not guilty in April last year to 42 domestic violence-related offences, including endangering life, making threats to kill, strangulation and persistent family violence. After many of the charges against the farmer from Binnu were dropped, he pleaded guilty to seven — including persistent family violence, two counts of unlawful assault causing bodily harm, two counts of endangering life, being armed with a dangerous weapon namely a firearm and doing an act endangering the life or safety of a person. The court had previously been told the accusations involved an alleged reign of terror between March 2015 and November 2020 of “extreme” acts of family violence. Police opposed bail at the time, but Wilson was granted strict home detention bail after his lawyer argued there had been no allegation of violence since the relationship ended in November 2020 and that his farm could face financial ruin if he remained in custody. Wilson’s bail was extended and he will face sentencing on the amended indictment in the Geraldton District Court on Thursday. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)