A man shot dead by police at a Nowra medical centre on Wednesday had a history of poor mental health and delusional behaviour, having recently made headlines for masquerading - convincingly - as a qualified lawyer.
Alexander Pinnock was shot dead after he emerged from Nowra's Junction Street Family Practice brandishing a gun before a suite of armed officers about 2.40pm on Wednesday, January 10.
The shooting ended a white-knuckle two hours at the practice, where Pinnock is alleged to have produced a gun while seeing his doctor, keeping the clinician and three others hostage for a time.
The 34-year-old was convicted in April of engaging in legal practice when he was not qualified.
He had paid $349USD for a qualification from a non-existent institution, Charleston State University, which offers fake degrees for life experience.
The court heard Pinnock, who also used the names Alec Stuart and Alec Anton Stuart, had been "practising" law since 2021 and genuinely believed he was a qualified lawyer.
Last year he told A Current Affair: "It was not a study course, it was all granted under recognition of prior learning".
But he also deliberately falsified a NSW practising certificate and certificate of fitness and good standing to the Queensland Law Society in his efforts to obtain associate membership.
The Victorian Legal Services Board also issued a statement on Pinnock, emphasising the need to always check lawyers' credentials.
Pinnock claimed to have worked with up to 50 clients, dealing with up to $1 million in fees and client money.
"To quote one of the magistrates I appeared in front of, I have a sledgehammer approach to the law,' he told the program.
"The vast majority of my clients were very happy with the services I provided them. We had successful outcomes. It was professional, nobody had any reason to complain."
He said he "loved the law" and had lived in hotels for two-and-a-half years.
Downing Centre Local Court heard Pinnock's psychiatrist confirmed he had been hospitalised for an ongoing schizophrenic disorder with 'delusional ideations'.
He was spared a jail sentence and was instead fined $3500 and placed on a community corrections order after he pleaded guilty to all charges and expressed remorse for his actions.
The court also heard he had recently become homeless and that he had been on the disability support pension since 2007 due to chronic cluster headaches.
He had been placed in emergency housing in Nowra.
