Man charged over threatening neighbour with knife

He is charged with two counts of making a threat to kill, unlawful assault with a weapon, unlawful assault, possessing a controlled weapon, aggravated burglary with intent to assault while armed with a weapon, two counts of criminal damage, four counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail, possessing cannabis, and trespassing with intent to cause damage.

Cobram Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Kim Sneddon told the court that on April 22 two of Mr Costello’s neighbours heard him ranting that someone had “killed his son”.

Mr Costello said to one of them “it must be you”, before pulling out a 30cm knife, Det Sen Constable Sneddon said.

When the neighbour ran into his house, Mr Costello kicked through a security door and went inside yelling that he was “going to kill him”, Det Sen Constable Sneddon said.

When police arrived, Mr Costello went with them to the police vehicle, but when the neighbour came out of his house, Mr Costello punched the man in the arm.

He also had a small bag containing cannabis mixed with tobacco on him when arrested.

After the incident, Mr Costello was taken to the acute psychiatric unit at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton, where he remained until May 2.

The same day as this incident, he was reported as “acting erratically” when he stole from Ritchie’s IGA in Numurkah.

When he was stopped by police he was “talking about being the king”, Det Sen Constable Sneddon said.

Earlier the same day he had gone into a meeting being held at a church and had “raved about being a descendant of Gene Simmons” and a “rockstar that came from space”.

The court was told that the next day, Mr Costello threatened psychiatric unit staff and security officers while they were trying to administer medication, punching one of the guards in the mouth.

Det Sen Constable Sneddon said police were concerned Mr Costello had six priors for failing to appear on bail, as well as about his drug use, as he told them he had been “relying on drugs for a long time”.

She also said police were worried about Mr Costello endangering the safety of others because at the time of the April 22 incidents his “demeanour and mental health were concerning”.

“These were unprovoked and there wasn’t any bad blood between them (Mr Costello and the neighbour),” Det Sen Constable Sneddon said.

He also has schizophrenia.

She also said she was worried about a “lag in time” before Mr Costello could start the Court Integrated Services Program.

Det Sen Constable Sneddon told the court one of the 000 calls made during the knife incident was from Mr Costello himself, who said “someone had kidnapped his son and he would stab somebody”.

A Numurkah police officer recognised his voice from having dealt with him earlier and went to assist.

On another occasion when Mr Costello was assessed, it was deemed he had “drug-induced psychosis”, but Det Sen Constable Sneddon said police could not know at the time of incidents whether his behaviour was due to mental ill-health or drugs.

Mr Costello’s defence solicitor Shana McDonald asked for her client to be bailed based on a combination of reasons.

These included a new medical regime, the availability of CISP while on bail, that Mr Costello’s mother could visit weekly and that he could undergo drug screens.

She also said he was having monthly depot injections, which is an antipsychotic medication used to treat mental health conditions including schizophrenia.

On deciding whether to bail Mr Costello, magistrate Simon Zebrowski said everyone was concerned about Mr Costello’s mental health because it was the cause of the offences.

“It’s hard to ascertain whether it’s a drug issue or a psychiatric issue, or a bit of both,” he said.

“If I can put in place drug screens and attendance at appointments — that can be monitored.”

Mr Costello was bailed to mid-August, with condition that he report to police once a week, comply with CISP conditions and his medication regime, abide by a 9pm to 6am curfew and not use drugs.