Julian Ingram told a former partner he had a “gun and a hole” for a man he assumed to be her new partner and made threats towards her, their child and her mother a decade before he allegedly murdered three people and went on the run, according to court documents.
Last month, Ingram – also known as Julian Pierpoint – allegedly shot dead his pregnant former partner Sophie Quinn, her new boyfriend and her aunt in Lake Cargelligo, about 450km west of Sydney. A large-scale manhunt for the 37-year-old is under way.
But according to court documents obtained by Guardian Australia, in 2016 Ingram pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic violence-related offences over threats made against another woman who he was previously in a four-year de facto relationship with, and with whom he shared a child.
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A month later, he breached the AVO granted to protect the woman – who Guardian Australia is referring to by the pseudonym Tessa – and was charged with an additional domestic violence offence.
Ingram accused her of being intimate with the handyman fixing her house, which had “many holes in the walls from previous unreported domestic violence incidents”, according to court documents.
“He wont [sic] be fixing it for much longer. I have a gun and a hole for him. I will do you and him in,” court documents report him as saying.
Ingram was sentenced to eight months’ prison on two counts of stalking or intimidating with intent to cause fear or physical harm and for breaching his AVO. Ingram successfully appealed against his sentence, and in 2017 it was reduced to 300 hours of community service. There was no order listed on the original sentence or appeal for him to attend a behavioural program.
Police are facing scrutiny over the decision to grant Ingram bail for allegedly assaulting Quinn two months before allegedly murdering her. Police have repeatedly said a risk assessment found he did not pose an unacceptable risk and that Ingram had previously complied with court orders.
‘Too scared to develop a relationship with another man’
Court documents show that Tessa ended the relationship with Ingram in 2015 after an ADVO was issued against him for assault.
“Throughout the years of being in a relationship with the defendant, the defendant was always of a jealous and controlling nature,” court documents said.
“The victim has been too scared to develop a relationship with another man as she fears the defendant will cause herself, her children and another man harm.”
In early 2016, Ingram made dozens of calls to Tessa which she did not answer.
“The defendant is known to get in a [fixed] state where he is uncontrollable, demanding, and extremely unbearable. When the victim senses this state she avoids the defendant as best she can as these states make her anxious as she is unsure of what the defendant is capable of,” the court documents said.
She answered a call from him the following day, during which Ingram accused her of being intimate with the handyman who was fixing her house. Ingram also made death threats.
He said he would harm her if she went to the police over his threats and she finished the call feeling “physically sick”, the documents said.
Ingram continued to call Tessa dozens of times over the coming days, most of which she did not answer. In one call that she did answer, he threatened her mother, and in another he threatened Tessa, her children and the handyman. In a text, he threatened to burn her house.
Tessa answered another one of his phone calls and told him she would get an AVO. He replied: “Do you think an AVO is going to keep yous all safe. Do you really want to play this game. I hope you are ready to play.”
Ingram was arrested and was charged with stalking or intimidating with intent to cause fear or physical harm and using a phone to threaten serious harm, which was later withdrawn. The police issued an AVO, ordering that he not go within 100km of where Tessa lived or worked.
When the allegations were put to him he said: “I understand when [Tessa] and I speak it sometimes gets heated but I have never threatened to harm her or the children. I would never burn the house, it’s my babies [sic] house not hers.”
Just over a month later, he breached the AVO.
Tessa heard Ingram’s voice “very loud” and “very close” to her house.
“Due to the victim’s state of terror, and the fact she was trying to call 000 for help, the victim stated to police she is not sure if the accused yelled ‘I can see you!’ Or ‘I’m going to get you!’,” the police facts said.
Ingram was sentenced to eight months in prison and a non-parole period of six months in April 2016, but was granted a stay on his sentence. The sentence was successfully appealed in September 2017 and reduced to 300 hours of community service.
Police investigating Ingram’s ‘full domestic violence history’
Earlier this month, police announced that the alleged “full domestic violence history” of Ingram and his access to firearms would be examined as part of a critical incident investigation overseen by the police watchdog.
New South Wales police said this would form part of a broader investigation into how police had handled the investigation into the alleged murders.
Since 2014, Ingram has had six AVOs issued against him relating to five different people. Two were granted to protect Tessa. One was to protect Quinn, whom he is now accused of murdering.
In November last year, police granted Ingram bail for domestic violence-related charges. As part of his bail conditions, he was required to report to the Lake Cargelligo police station daily and to abide by the AVO.
Ingram had pleaded not guilty to one count of stalking and harassment with the intention to cause physical harm, one count of common assault, and one count of damaging or destroying property.
In 2022, Ingram was convicted of grabbing a family member by the throat after she made a comment about one of his children. He was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.
“The victim was talking about Christmas plans and presents which had been purchased for the witnesses’ children, and unexpectedly the accused suddenly became angry and very aggressive towards the victim,” the police facts state.
A claim about seeing his own child led the slightly intoxicated victim to make a “smart reply” before Ingram spat on the family member, according to the facts sheet. After she made another comment, he grabbed her by the throat.
According to the fact sheet, Ingram told police after the incident “as I said it was a bit of a family feud, I took it too far”.
– Additional reporting by Nino Bucci
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
