A man will have to wait to learn his fate after threatening to kill former political staffer Brittany Higgins, her husband and the couple’s dog in a nasty online rant.
David William Wonnocott was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt and black trousers when he appeared in Lismore District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to threaten to kill and using a carriage service to threaten or harass.
The 49-year-old brutally attacked Ms Higgins and New South Wales politician Alex Greenwich, calling them a serious threat to his safety.
He was arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Squad on April 19 last year after police allegedly discovered 49 threatening and offensive messages sent from linked accounts.
Police discovered Wonnocott had used one of the social media accounts to send messages to Ms Higgins’ now-husband, David Sharaz, containing death threats against him, Ms Higgins and the couple’s beloved cavoodle.
The court heard the couple “feared for their safety” after the messages.
The Banora Point resident also admitted sending threatening messages to openly gay Sydney MP Alex Greenwich in a separate incident.
Judge John Pickering noted that Wonnocott had “apparently deep-rooted views of disapproval of the lesbian and gay community”.
David William Wonnocott, 49 (pictured), threatened to kill Brittany Higgins, her husband and the couple’s dog.
Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz tied the knot in May and recently announced they are expecting a baby.
Wonnocott was due to be sentenced on Monday, but his lawyer asked the court for an adjournment to allow him to obtain a psychiatric report.
Judge Pickering adjourned the matter until November.
Ms Higgins has been subjected to a torrent of online abuse since publicly alleging she had been raped by a colleague in Parliament in 2019.
Fellow politician Bruce Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in 2021, but the trial was later abandoned due to jury misconduct.
The Director of Public Prosecutions refused to apply for a retrial out of concerns for Ms Higgin’s mental health.
Lehrmann was recently ordered to pay millions after filing a failed libel suit against Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
The couple “began to fear for their safety”
He claimed he had been defamed by an interview between Ms Wilkinson and Ms Higgins on Network 10’s The Project in 2021.
In April, Judge Lee dismissed the case, finding that Lehrmann had, under the civil test of preponderance of probabilities, raped Higgins in Parliament in 2019.
Six weeks later, Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz were married at The Valley Estate in Currumbin on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
After years of intense media scrutiny, the couple moved to France with their cavoodle Kingston in search of a fresh start.
On Sunday night, the couple announced that they are expecting their first child.