A violent criminal saw texts about buying drugs on his son’s phone – so he stormed the alleged dealer’s house and threatened his friend with a fake gun.
Steven Alexander Marshall and two accomplices barged into the Sunshine Coast house on November 5 armed with crowbars, hammers and the fake weapon.
The man he was looking for fled out the window as the vigilante father arrived about 9pm, so he turned on a friend who stayed inside in the hope of finding him.
Steven Alexander Marshall, 43, saw texts about buying drugs on his son’s phone so he stormed the alleged dealer’s Sunshine Coast house and threatened his friend with a fake gun
The man he was looking for fled out the window as the vigilante father arrived about 9pm, so he turned on a friend who stayed inside in the hope of finding him
The 43-year-old pointed the gun-shaped laser pointer at the victim’s knee and then stomach saying ‘you have five seconds to tell me where he is’, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily.
He, Cory Edward Brown, 34, and a third unidentified accomplice then ransacked the house, smashing a television and overturning furniture, before stealing property.
Judge John Robertson sentenced Marshall to 4.5 years jail and Brown to three years in the Maroochydore District Court on Monday – but he could be out on parole in November.
‘Threats were made to the occupants of the house, threats of extreme violence, and I accept that all of them would have been terrified,’ he said.
The 43-year-old pointed the gun-shaped laser pointer at the victim’s knee and then stomach saying ‘you have five seconds to tell me where he is’
The pair pleaded guilty to stealing, entering the house at night while armed in company, and damaging property. Marshall also admitted to threatening violence.
The heavily-tattooed criminal’s lawyer said Marshall ‘lost control’ after seeing text messages on his 16-year-old son’s phone about buying ecstasy.
Marshall’s social media profiles show him brandishing what looked like a gun, while holding a cigarette in his mouth.
Numerous other photos show him getting extensive tattoos, including full facial designs, and wearing numerous gold facial piercings, skull-shaped rings, and necklaces.
They include the word ‘unloved’ on his forehead, a crow eating an eyeball, references to slaughter on his knee, and a slit cut into his tongue.
The heavily-tattooed criminal’s lawyer said Marshall ‘lost control’ after seeing text messages on his 16-year-old son’s phone about buying ecstasy
He posted a video of him pretending to stab himself in the neck before vomiting fake blood, then took a photo of him brandishing the knife while covered in gore.
Just two days before he and Brown stormed the house he made light of his extensive past convictions in a Facebook post.
‘Just got pulled over by detectives from task force maxima breath test drug test lisence check. Great feeling knowing im all sweet. For dog coppas they were surprizingly cool. Love beeing clean (sic),’ he wrote.
Earlier he appeared to threaten several people he accused of doing him wrong, saying they ‘f**ked with the wrong monster’.
‘I have to square up with a couple of grubs i used to call friends u know im a better friend then an enemy n soon you’ll know you f**ked with the wrong monster (sic),’ he wrote.
He posted a video of him pretending to stab himself in the neck before vomiting fake blood, then took a photo of him brandishing the knife while covered in gore.
‘I’m allready have you under surveillance n know your moovements what day you get paid what atm u use what pub you drink at even what time you go to bed (sic).
‘After I’ve squared the ledger you will see me every time you close your eyes.’
Crown prosecutor Sam Bain told the court on Monday Marshall had an ‘appalling criminal history’ including several violent offences.
In 2007 he bashed his best friend with a golf club and pushed him in to a fish tank after finding him in bed with his girlfriend and was sentenced to 18 months jail.
The year before he tricked a man into walking outside a pub before beating him so badly the victim couldn’t open either of his eyes.
Marshall has three past convictions for violent crimes over the past 10 years, including beating his best friend with a golf club over a girl
Marshall grabbed him from behind and squeezed his neck until he blacked out, then punched him repeatedly in the face while he was unconscious.
The attack was based on the false belief the victim was molesting his own niece, whom Marshall was friends with.
After serving two years for that attack, Marshall was one of three men and a woman who in 2011 bashed a man senseless to steal money from his bank account.
They tied a the victim’s legs and hands and hit and kicked him for at least 15 minutes while demanding his account PIN, but were given two wrong ones.
For his part in the attack he was given four years jail after the judge described the group’s conduct as ‘gangster-like behaviour’.