Court orders counselling for Millbridge man Michael Martin who swung pole at people

A Millbridge man has been ordered to attend counselling programs over the next nine months after drunkenly swinging a metal pole at strangers outside his home. Michael John Martin was placed on a nine-month community-based order after pleading guilty to being armed in a way that may cause fear during his Bunbury Magistrates Court appearance on Thursday. The court was told Martin was outside his home in Millbridge during the afternoon of August 22, staggering and carrying a metre-long metal pole. He was sighted by other residents in the area banging the pole to the ground and yelling before confronting a group of people who were driving past. When they confronted Martin urging him to drop the pole, Martin began wielding the pole “like a baseball bat” and threatened to “f... them up” if they didn’t “f... off”. Although the group managed to drive off, another witness managed to wrestle the pole from Martin’s hands before police were called. It was understood Martin was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Martin, who represented himself during the hearing, told the court he had only been drunk twice this year before saying he was “upset about a lot of things” and that he hated his life. Concerned for his mental health, Magistrate Benjamin Tyers asked Martin if he needed help, to which Martin shook his head, claiming he was alright and said “bad things happen when I’m drunk”. However, Martin eventually agreed to undertake any programs that could help improve his mental health as part of a community-based order when Mr Tyers advised counselling “might be helpful”. Martin was also ordered to pay costs for his arrest.