Man threatened to share photos of neighbour’s hookup in birthday card addressed to ‘Grindr slag’
Grindr. (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A man in Australia has been sentenced for sending a threatening birthday card to his neighbour addressed “Grindr slag”.
Shane Ustick, 60, from Sydney was sentenced for threatening to distribute an intimate image without consent after saying he would release photos of his neighbour’s Grindr hookup, a court heard.
According to the Star Observer, Ustick admitted to police he sent a threatening birthday card to his neighbour addressing him as “Grindr slag” and threatening to tell his parents and “real estate agent” about the hookups.
Newtown Local Court heard Ustick delivered the threatening message in a birthday card to his neighbour on 31 August this year.
On the front of the card, addressed to “Grindr slag”, Ustick reportedly wrote: “Not bad looking but a slag! What would your parents say and real estate agent say?”
The inside of the card reportedly read: “Hey, Grindr boy, we know who you are, we are tired of listening to your music.
“After your big day… we now have some pics next time you decide to turn up the music pictures and flyers in every letterbox and every lamppost in the area.”
Ustick admitted in court he sent the threats, claiming his neighbour had been playing loud music.
“The reason I wrote it was because I wanted some peace and quiet,” he told police.
“It was a very dumb thing to do but I thought it gave me a bit of control to try and stop him from turning on the music.”
Ustick was sentenced on 8 November for threatening to distribute an intimate image without consent, despite reportedly telling police he had not actually taken any photos of his neighbour.
As he had no previous criminal records, he received a 12-month conditional release order instead of jail time.
A report by the Human Rights Law Centre found almost 75 per cent of LGBTQ+ people in Australia had “experienced some type of bullying, harassment or violence on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics”.
