A Wollongong man who threatened to slit the throat and shoot a child witness in a court case against him has been jailed for a minimum six months.
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Ian Francis Michael Quinn made a number of threatening gestures to the 14-year-old boy and warned him to "tell the truth" at an impending hearing against him.
The boy had allegedly witnessed an altercation between Quinn and another man at an earlier date, which resulted in Quinn stabbing the man in the back a number of times.
Port Kembla Local Court heard that on August 7, 2014, Quinn followed the boy and his mother as they left home for soccer training in their car and chased them "like a maniac".
Worried about his aggressive behaviour, the woman decided to go straight to the police station to report Quinn's action to police.
It was while the woman was inside the police station that the 50-year-old pulled up beside the boy in the car.
He made a number of threatening gestures and mouthed to him to "keep your mouth shut or I'll kill you".
"He turned around and did a gun sign with his hand and then he shot me and I was quite scared at that point," the boy told police.
Quinn also gestured to the boy to zip his mouth shut, before making a throat-slitting action.
The following day, he verbally abused the boy's mother - who was undergoing chemotherapy and recovering from surgery - and threatened to call her work and tell them she was a drug addict.
He was found guilty of two counts of intimidation, intending to influence a witness and driving in a menacing manner.
Handing down her decision, Magistrate Susan McGowan said she found the boy, his mother and the witness gave clear and consistent evidence while Quinn's "wasn't compelling".
Magistrate McGowan cited a number of inconsistencies between Quinn's initial police report and evidence given in court, including claims he was going out to buy cigarettes when he followed the pair to soccer training and that he never stopped next to the car outside Wollongong police station.
She sentenced him to a minimum six months' jail, disqualified him from driving for 12 months and placed him on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
