A Victorian man who served with the Australian Defence Force has pleaded guilty to harassing the ABC journalist Mark Willacy after he reported on alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
Thomas Mark Rickard, from Lara, near Geelong, was arrested late last year after phoning Willacy and leaving an abusive and threatening voicemail.
Rickard, 26, pleaded guilty to using a telecommunications service to harass.
Willacy, an ABC investigations reporter, was awarded a Gold Walkley in 2020 for his reporting on alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
The Geelong magistrates court heard on Monday that Rickard had served in the ADF for four years and then as an army reservist for three years before he was employed by Veterans in Construction, a business which hires former army members.
He was working on the West Gate tunnel project with other former veterans when Willacy’s reporting became a “pretty hot topic”, the court heard.
On 9 November 2021, Rickard and his workmates had a site meeting about 5am where Willacy’s reporting was again discussed. He decided to do a Google search for Willacy’s name, found his contact number and left a message, the call lasting about 20 seconds.
Rickard has sent a letter of apology to Willacy and his family, and donated $5,000 to a charity of Willacy’s choosing which supports women and children in Afghanistan.
Rickard has no criminal record, and he submitted five references to the court, two of which were from former colleagues in the ADF.
Magistrate Peter Mellas accepted the behaviour was out of character and did not convict Rickard, ordering him to pay a $1,000 bond and be of good behaviour for two years.
Mellas said Rickard’s actions struck at the presence of a free and unafraid press in Australia.
“The importance of that is it brings the light to things that would otherwise remain hidden.
“To do anything which would lead to someone not doing their duty – just as you signed up to do with the ADF – is a serious matter indeed.
“The reporter … it’s not going to stop him, and unfortunately he’s probably experienced similar things in the past.”
Mellas said it was one thing for Rickard to have loyalty to the ADF but quite another to act on that loyalty as he had.
Thanks to police for their work on this. We are fine and moving on. https://t.co/v0XQJJ3TIm via @ABCaustralia
— Mark Willacy (@markwillacy) August 29, 2022
A victim impact statement tendered to the court on behalf of Willacy and his wife demonstrated the harm Rickard’s actions had caused, Mellas said.
“Here in the cold light of day … it’s clear that you do understand and appreciate the harm you’ve caused,” he told Rickard.
Mellas said that while he considered making an example of Rickard and punishing him more harshly, the extent of media coverage of his case would be a significant enough consequence.
“There will be considerable interest in the outcome of these proceedings,” he said.
“What you’ve done will become well known, if it hasn’t already.
“People close to you, people who meet you, will potentially know what you did …there are consequences to having been brought before the court for behaving in this way.”
