Bunbury man Daniel Crotty fined for yelling racial slurs at fellow Bunbury Police detainee

A Bunbury man has been fined a total of $2100 for what a South West magistrate described as an “appalling use of language” while inside the Bunbury Police Station lock-up. Daniel Crotty appeared in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court via videolink from Bunbury Regional Prison on Monday where he pleaded guilty to charges of behaving in a disorderly manner in a police station or lock-up, as well as possessing a controlled weapon. The court was told Crotty entered the Bunbury Courthouse during the afternoon of February 10 and was told by security staff at the entrance to empty his pockets and place his belongings in a plastic tub for a security check. Crotty unzipped a small bag and produced a can of capsicum spray, prompting the security staff to tell him the item would be seized. When Crotty later tried to retrieve the capsicum spray, he was informed it had been passed on to police, prompting his eventual arrest. In an interview with police, Crotty questioned why he was able to buy capsicum spray from a store when it was illegal to have it, claiming he bought it for his girlfriend. A month later, Crotty was arrested on Victoria Street and taken to the Bunbury Police Station. While waiting in the cells, Crotty could be heard yelling and hurling profanities at another detainee, calling them a n....., a c... and a dog. As he was being led to an interview, Crotty then punched the glass of the other detainee’s cell, continuing to yell profanities. It was understood the other detainee was an Indigenous man that Crotty told the court was a friend. Crotty explained that he was trying to communicate with someone else within the lock-up but the other man kept yelling over him. The court was also told the disorderly behaviour charge placed Crotty in breach of a $1000 suspended fine he received from the Perth Magistrate’s Court over another disorderly behaviour charge as well as a breach of bail. In sentencing, Magistrate Linda Keane told Crotty the disorderly offending was an “absolutely appalling use of language”, particularly towards someone he allegedly called a friend. “Nobody should be the subject of such derogatory and racist language,” she said. Ms Keane triggered the suspended fine and fined Crotty a further $1100 for the fresh charges, as well as ordering to have Crotty pay court costs. Crotty is next due to appear on April 21 after obtaining further legal advice on further charges. He was remanded in custody.