A “dangerously obsessed” triple j listener has been jailed for threatening to kill some of the station’s presenters and staff over large amounts he believed the youth broadcaster owed him.
As Fairfax Media reports, Melbourne man Nicholas John Williams, who plead guilty to a charge of extortion with threats to kill and inflict injury last month, has been sentenced to five years in prison, with a non-parole period of three years.
Williams has admitted to sending 15 violent, abusive and sexually explicit text messages to triple j over a one-month period between December 2014 and January 2015. The text messages included threats of rape and stabbing.
A Victorian court has heard that Williams became angry after missing out on tickets to triple j‘s 40th anniversary Beat The Drum concert in Sydney in January 2015, and began to demand money from the broadcaster.
In a series of texts sent on 6th January, Williams wrote:
“The knife I nearly killed one of you with surely worth 50 [thousand dollars].
“If I don’t get an invite to this big event I’m gunna walk into the ABC store and stab the closest girl. Work it out.
“If you think I’m gunna be the fool think again.”
In his texts, Williams mentioned explicit sexual acts, and even threatened to kill the daughter of a triple j presenter. The presenter has not been identified, but in a statement she said she was “frightened, fearful, stressed and anxious” because of Williams’ messages.
Williams was also captured on CCTV walking into an ABC Shop in Melbourne, on the same day he sent the following messages to triple j:
“I saw there is only one girl at the ABC Shop, I’ll stab her when I rob her.
“The moment I sense police I’ll just kill as many of you as I can.”
During sentencing, Judge Richard Smith told Williams, “You appear to have developed a dangerous and unhealthy obsession with regard to your messaging of Triple J presenters.
“You formed the belief that your contribution had been an important one and that Triple J had profited from their introduction of such messaging from you.
“Threats of violence made from remote locations are made in a cowardly manner. Such threats made against young and vulnerable children are equally cowardly and horrific.”
Williams’ defence counsel provided to the court a handwritten letter by Williams, in which he said his threats were “hollow” because, “The people that knew me knew that I didn’t really want or expect any money.” Judge Smith dismissed this claim.
The court heard that Williams has a history of drug use and has served 18 separate terms of imprisonment in the past, including for armed robbery.
Psychiatrist reports found that Williams suffered from mental health issues, with one stating that he had a “morbid and delusional infatuation” with triple j.
