A 48-YEAR-OLD who smashed the window of a vehicle parked behind a business in the Bathurst CBD actually "got the wrong car", Bathurst Local Court has heard.
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"The person whose car it was would have been pretty shocked," his solicitor told the local court magistrate.
She said her client had "never been in trouble at all" and it was "not usual behaviour" for him.
James Frederick Death, 48, of Mid Western Highway, Fitzgeralds Mount, was in Bathurst Local Court on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 to be sentenced for destroying or damaging property, possessing a prohibited drug and having custody of a knife in a public place (first offence).
Police documents before the court said the victim in the destroy or damage property matter secured a vehicle in a car park behind a George Street business on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at around 5pm.
Death arrived with a woman in a Holden Commodore at around 8.30pm, according to the police documents.
They approached the rear door of the business premises, noted that it was locked, drove away and returned about two minutes later.
Death got out of the Commodore, approached the rear window of the parked car and smashed it with an unknown object before he and the woman left the scene, according to the police documents.
Police spoke with Death under caution on December 6, 2025 and they said he admitted to the offence.
He said he committed the offence with the woman as she believed that the people who owned the vehicle owed her money.
Separate police documents said police were conducting patrols of Sydney Road at about 10.15am on November 11, 2025 when they saw a parked black Subaru with two men in it.
Police said they conducted checks on the vehicle and stopped and talked to the two men, who said they had come to Bathurst for a drive and to get McDonald's.
In searching Death, police said they found one gram of cannabis leaf in a metal tin and a folding knife with a blue handle and a 10-centimetre blade.
Death was cautioned and asked questions and said the drug was cannabis and it was for his personal use and he did not realise the knife was in his possession, according to the police documents.
In court
Solicitor Ms Collins confirmed pleas of guilty to all charges and said she was asking the court to consider a Conditional Release Order (used to deal with first time and less serious offences where the offender is unlikely to present a risk to the community) without conviction for possessing a drug and having custody of a knife.
Her client does rural work with a neighbour and the knife in question was a pocket knife that he was not aware that he should not have, Ms Collins said.
He uses it for farm tasks, she said.
In terms of the cannabis leaf, Ms Collins said her client used it mainly at night to help with back pain.
She said the car that came to police attention belonged to a friend and her client was on the roadside having something to eat before he was searched.
He was co-operative with police, Ms Collins said.
In terms of the damage charge, Ms Collins said her client regretted doing it.
He thought the owner of the vehicle owed him money, but it "turned out he got the wrong car", she said.
"The person whose car it was would have been pretty shocked," she said.
Her 48 year-old client had "never been in trouble at all", Ms Collins said, and for him, it was "not usual behaviour".
Magistrate's decision
Magistrate Gemma Slack-Smith dismissed the charge of possessing a prohibited drug as she noted it was one gram of cannabis leaf.
In noting Death's lack of criminal record, the submissions made on his behalf and the fact he was co-operative with police, Ms Slack-Smith imposed a Conditional Release Order for six months without conviction for custody of a knife.
The destroy or damage charge, she said, was "more serious".
In noting that he was otherwise a person of good character, Ms Slack-Smith convicted Death on that charge and imposed a Conditional Release Order for nine months.
