Khanas Joe Cooper: Jailed for threatening to kill family friend while holding garden shears in front of child

A man threatened to “cave in” the head of his family friend and kill her before brandishing garden shears and continuing to abuse her, all in front of her nine-year-old daughter, a Kalgoorlie court has been told. Khanas Joe Cooper was mad that the woman, his former friend of 20 years, had been “sticking her nose in business that was not hers” when he let himself into her home on July 2, 2024. Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court heard the details of the 41-year-old’s offending during his sentencing on Thursday. Cooper was told to “f… off” by the victim when she heard him talking to her nine-year-old daughter in the kitchen, to which Cooper threatened to “cave her head in” and told her she “did not know what he was capable of”. Cooper tried to punch the woman, but she dodged it. He then went outside and picked up a pair of gardening shears before running inside and shouting “I’ll show you mother……” with the shears raised above his head and telling her “Don’t f… with me, I’ll kill every one one of you mother…….”. Before he left, he told the woman he hoped his actions “taught her a lesson”. Cooper had been on a conditionally suspended imprisonment order for several other offences at the time. The earlier offending included a trespass charge that saw him enter the Agricola student accommodation building and talk through the window of a woman telling her he was “looking for some p….” and then walked around to the front door and asked to use her phone charger. A representative from Adult Community Corrections told the court Cooper had missed various appointment during his CSIO, and had made no progress on any referrals made to other services. Despite this, defence lawyer Leneva Polmear asked the court to give him another chance on a CSIO. She said while nothing justified Cooper’s behaviour, he had told her he “lost his head” because he found out the victim had been “sticking her nose into business that is not hers” and talking to his parents. She said a letter penned by Cooper showed a change in his attitude and insight into his issues. She said it also showed he was ashamed of his behaviour and understood how frightening it must have been for the victim and her daughter. Prosecuting Constable Jacob Nixon said the threats in combination with the weapon wielded was “absolutely awful” behaviour in front of a nine-year-old girl and it would likely cause “irreparable harm to the next generation”. “He has had opportunities before and he has neglected them. He is not deserving of another chance,” he said. Magistrate Paul Lyons said these newest offences took place just more than three months after he imposed the CSIO on Cooper, so it was difficult to ascertain whether Cooper’s new desire to change was genuine this time. “I’m not sure to what extent you’re able to follow through with the things you tell me from custody,” he said. Mr Lyons said Cooper’s letter mentioned he wished to apologise to the victim, which he said was to his credit. He triggered six months of the 12-month conditionally suspended order and sentenced him to a further three months for the new offending, the latter being backdated to July last year. He made Cooper eligible for parole.