‘When I get out, I am going to kill you’: Hedland man’s threat to court security guard before headbutt

An 18-year-old Hedland man had to be restrained and removed from South Hedland Magistrates Court by five security guards on February 21 after a temper tantrum saw him headbutt and threaten to kill a security guard. Facing sentencing over an aggravated burglary he committed last December, Byron Jesse Nance removed his phone from his pocket and began to make a call while the magistrate was talking. After Magistrate Gavin Maclean told him to put his phone away, and learning of his 12-month suspended sentence, Nance became agitated towards security guards and the magistrate. “When I get out, I am going to kill you,” Nance said to a security guard restraining him. He then told the magistrate to “shut up you fat c....” Nance then stood up and headbutted the security guard he previously threatened to kill. After the incident Magistrate Maclean sentenced Nance to one-year of immediate imprisonment. Nance spent some time in South Hedland Hospital on February 21 and was transferred to Roebourne Regional Prison the following afternoon. He is yet to receive further charges over the altercation. Nance was originally charged with aggravated burglary after breaking into a property on Captains Way, South Hedland on the evening of December 31. He stole two wedding rings, a camera and an electric bike. Nance’s defence told the court he had been diagnosed with various mental health and intellectual disabilities, including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder. In sentencing, Magistrate Maclean said the crime was an “invasion of privacy” that resulted in the theft of wedding rings which are still missing.