Prison term for firearm threat to ex-partner

A Bunbury man has been jailed for threatening to shoot his former partner after going to her home armed with a replica firearm over an ongoing dispute. Mathew Clive Boothey appeared in Bunbury Magistrates Court last Thursday where he was sentenced to 18 months in jail for being armed in a way that caused fear and making a threat to harm another person. The court was told Boothey had called his former partner on September 10 when the pair got into an argument which culminated in him threatening to “put an arrow in you”. That morning, Boothey went to his former partner’s Dalyellup home where their argument continued outside before he was allowed inside the property. The argument continued inside the home, in front of the woman’s teenage daughter, when Boothey pulled out a replica revolver from his backpack and began swinging it around in front of both the victim and the teenage daughter. When Boothey pointed the firearm at the teenager, the victim stood between them telling him to “shoot me”, to which he responded “I will c...” before he left the property. In submissions, Boothey’s lawyer Rhonda Parks told the court her client had been in an ongoing dispute with his former partner in relation to contact with the young children they had together. It was submitted the former partner accused Boothey of being a “useless, crap father” who allegedly failed to protect their daughter from an alleged incident with another person. Ms Parks also told the court Boothey accepted his response was “completely inappropriate” and he was in a “blind rage” by the accusations. Police prosecutor Sgt Darren Grigson said the offending was far too serious for a fine, telling the court there was no suggestion the victim would have known Boothey was carrying a replica gun. A victim impact statement submitted to the court indicated the victim had since lost her sense of sanctuary in her home as a result of the offending. It was also found Boothey had previously been placed on a conditional suspended imprisonment order for a previous violent offence, which included anger management counselling, but Boothey had not gained independent counselling for his behaviour since. In sentencing, Magistrate Benjamin Tyers agreed the incident caused “considerable fear” to both Boothey’s ex-partner and her daughter. “You pointed a gun at a teenage girl and her mother,” he said “You took a replica firearm to this woman’s home knowing an argument would ensue because you were in an agitated state after the phone call. They weren’t to know it wasn’t a real one and they would have been terrified.” Boothey will be eligible for parole in July 2022.