The estranged boyfriend of notorious Illawarra criminal Belinda Van Krevel has admitted to assaulting and stalking her following the breakdown of their four month relationship.
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Glenn Macrae McKechnie, 44, pleaded guilty in Wollongong Local Court on Friday to charges relating to two incidents involving Van Krevel, who rose to infamy in 2000 when she was charged with soliciting her then-boyfriend to murder her father with a tomahawk.
She pleaded guilty in 2001 and was jailed for six years. She served a further two-year prison sentence from 2013 after repeatedly stabbing another partner in their south-Sydney home.
She had been out of jail for a matter of months when she and McKechnie started dating in late 2015. They split earlier this year, resulting in an apprehended violence order preventing McKechnie from contacting Van Krevel.
However, the court heard on Friday that McKechnie breached the order on May 7 by turning up at her unit and verbally abusing her.
Around 8.30 that night he approached Van Krevel as she walked to her letterbox and tried to give her a letter, however they began arguing and McKechnie punched Van Krevel in the head.
She collapsed on the driveway before curling up and screaming, fearful the assault would continue. McKechnie rode off laughing.
He was arrested the following day and charged.
Meantime, in court on Friday, McKechnie was cleared of a further charge of stealing Van Krevel’s mobile phone.
Van Krevel was required to give evidence in a brief hearing on the matter.
She initially told the court she had dropped the phone and McKechnie had picked it up, however conceded in cross examination from McKechnie’s lawyer that it was possible she had told him to take the phone.
“I put my hands up and dropped the phone...I raised my hands to let him know I didn’t want him near me,” she told the court.
“Do you remember saying to him ‘take the f—king phone, just take it’?” she was asked.
“Yeah, I might have said that...it’s possible I said that.”
The magistrate found McKechnie not guilty and dismissed the charge.
He was remanded in custody for sentencing on the other charges next month.
I raised my hands to let him know I didn’t want him near me
- Belinda Van Krevel
He yelled out to Van Krevel “I love you darlin’” as he left the courtroom.