Amaroo man Joseph Brown allegedly breached bail conditions, then threatened a neighbour with a knife

The ACT Magistrates Court heard Joseph Brown, 39, had been bailed on a previous offence on August 18 and around 11pm on Friday night, after drinking the alcohol, knocked on the door of a neighbour.

When a man answered the door, Brown allegedly produced a knife with a 15cm blade and said: "If you don't get out now c---, I'll kill you with a knife."

The victim fled the unit and flagged down a passing police car on Emerald Way, Amaroo.

Police entered the unit complex and identified the alleged offender, who was required to undergo a screening test for alcohol as per his court-ordered conditions. He tested positive.

Police found a knife, as described, on a wardrobe inside the unit.

In his record of interview, the defendant denied holding a knife at any time and denied making the threats.

Legal Aid solicitor Brandon Bodel submitted that the facts of the case were in dispute, and that when the defendant had come home to his unit, had seen the bourbon in his fridge and drank it "to get rid of it" and that Brown now "feels dedicated to quitting alcohol".

"He [Brown] made the wrong choice last night," Mr Bodel said.

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The prosecution opposed bail, proposing there was "no confidence of [the alleged offender] complying with [bail] conditions" and the "likelihood of further offences looms large".

Magistrate Ian Tembey agreed, and pointed out Brown had been given a suspended sentence and a three-month good-behaviour order for a previous offence last November.

A separate statement of facts tendered in court on Saturday revealed on August 10 this year, Brown had made 24 harassing phone calls within six hours to the AFP's national operations centre, threatening the call-taker with a lawsuit and making offensive statements of a sexual nature.

Police linked the number made by the caller to the defendant and went to his residence a day later for a welfare check. After the defendant allegedly failed to answer the door, they had a locksmith open the door, found Brown inside and arrested him for using a carriage service to menace and harass.

"I'm concerned about the randomness of this," Magistrate Tembey said.

"There have been so many offences committed over a number of years."

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