Mount Magnet death threats with hammer and shovel but no jail

A neighbourhood feud that escalated to threats to kill with a hammer and shovel will not result in prison time for a Mount Magnet man. Kimbley Charles Curley, 37, was sentenced to a suspended imprisonment order this week after he pleaded guilty in Geraldton Magistrates Court to two charges of carrying a weapon, being armed and threats to kill. Last month Curley escalated a verbal feud with a man visiting his neighbours when he said he would “smash” the man with his hammer and threatened his life in front of police. A similar incident occurred between the two men in December, when a hammer was used by Curley to threaten the man. Despite the serious threats, the court was told Curley had previously attempted to resolve the feud amicably, but repeated attempts had failed. Magistrate Angus Hockton opted to suspend his imprisonment due to the courtroom police prosecutor advocating for Curley’s previous attempts at mediation. “There was an ongoing issue that you have tried to resolve and I accept you have tried to resolve it by appropriate means,” he said. “You thought you needed to protect your family by taking the steps that you did but you didn’t, it was inappropriate. “You cannot go around and try resolve your problems by taking a shovel and a hammer to your problems because that’s just going to add to your problems. “It’s serious because it caused alarm to other people within the community . . . innocent people in the same street and have to put up with people being threatened and that is not an appropriate way to live their lives and it’s not appropriate for you to put them through that.” Curley’s eight-month prison term was suspended for seven-months.