David Wonnocott, the man responsible for sending death threats to Brittany Higgins and her husband David Sharaz, has been sentenced to three years and two months’ jail time.
The 51-year-old man was originally charged with “using a carriage service to make a threat to kill, menace, offend or harass” in April 2023, after pleading guilty to the multiple offences.
The prison term was handed down after the court heard evidence outlining Wonnocott’s vile barrage of threats that began in 2022 with messages to Higgins’ husband, Sharaz, claiming the allegations against Bruce Lehrmann were false.
While Higgins has been transparent about the extent of online abuse she’s received since her case against Lehrmann was finalised, the couple decided to seek legal action after Wonnocott’s abuse turned threatening.
Exchanges between Sharaz and David Wonnocott about Brittany Higgins revealed the extent of the abuse, with words like: “I’ll bury you both,” and “I know the truth… I’m going to pay you a visit,” prompting the couple to fear for their lives.
When Sharaz tried to ascertain if Wonnocott could actually follow through on his threats, asking if he knew where they lived, the man replied: “I’m going to chop [dog] Kingston up into little pieces, I will follow you home from work and destroy you all.”
At the time of sentencing, Judge John Pickering delivered a scathing assessment of the facts, calling out his intent and history of online abuse, and making a point to denounce the ongoing issue of behaviour across the digital landscape.
“If we were to process and imprison every moron – and I use that word deliberately – who said something offensive about Brittany Higgins online, I’d be sentencing people for the next 10 years,” Judge Pickering said.
“But that’s really not what happened here. He wanted him to genuinely feel that this was more than just another idiot online,” – the intent, Pickering argued, that outed Wonnocott for the man he was: “quite an awful human being who has awful views.”
In a victim impact statement shared with the court, Sharaz spoke about the ongoing impact Wonnocott’s actions have had on the couple. “My wife and I have been exposed to a lot of public abuse since she came forward about her alleged rape in Parliament House,” it read.
“However, it was an escalation of death threats by Mr Wonnocott that made us terrified to leave the house alone.
“Over weeks and months, we became petrified that the next person we would encounter would be the nameless, faceless stranger who threatened to end our lives.”
Wonnocott will be eligible for parole in June 2026.
Related articles:
- Brittany Higgins & Bruce Lehrmann: A Timeline Of Events
- Brittany Higgins’ New Career Will Help Victim-Survivors Navigate Our Fraught Justice System
- Court Finds Bruce Lehrmann Lacking In Defamation Case
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