Kaleb Martin Neville Wayne Walsh: Geraldton man handed order for threatening to hit pregnant girlfriend

A Geraldton man who threatened his pregnant girlfriend while she was driving and smashed a car window in a fit of rage has been placed on a court order. Kaleb Martin Neville Wayne Walsh, 21, appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on Thursday, pleading guilty to charges of being armed in a way that may cause fear and making an aggravated threat to unlawfully do an act. Police prosecutor Sen. Const. Paul White said while Walsh had a record, “it’s not the worst”. Sen. Const White told the court the first incident occurred in Geraldton on March 2, when Walsh had gone to Jacob Place accompanied by multiple family members, with the intention to fight someone. Walsh had been walking up and down a street with a large wood plank in his hand, that he had been raising above his head with people in the vicinity, although the situation did not escalate any further. The court was further told that only 10 days later, on March 12 in Newman, Walsh was in the passenger seat of a car that his pregnant girlfriend was driving at 11pm. The couple had been together for five years and Walsh was behaving in an aggressive manner towards her, making multiple threats that he would hit her. The victim began driving towards the hospital and when Walsh questioned why she was driving there, she said she feared for her safety. This caused him to become more upset and punch the passenger window, resulting in it smashing. Defence lawyer Fiona Hugo said while these matters where serious, they did not escalate to physical violence and she argued Walsh should be placed on a community-based order. Magistrate Angus Hockton agreed that while the armed charge was serious, the nature of Walsh’s offending was lesser. He said the threats to his girlfriend were also serious. “Being armed is serious but it is not a weapon, it’s not a samurai sword or a machete,” he said. “The threats are serious, sometimes threats can just be words but she obviously believed it and drove herself to the hospital for protection, that’s how fearful she was.” Mr Hockton placed Walsh on a six-month community-based order with supervision requirements. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)