Man avoids further jail time for publicly urinating on meat at Sydney Woolworths amid mental health struggles

A man will spend no more time in jail after his ‘strange’ act of public urination on packaged meat in a city center Woolworths.

Lachlan Ebejer, also known as Lochlan James Ebejer, was standing next to customers in the City Hall branch of the supermarket in Sydney on July 1 when he infected the raw meat in 28 seconds.

The 22-year-old was already known to Woolworths staff after serving a six-month nationwide shoplifting ban for shoplifting in Toongabbie, in Sydney’s west, about two weeks earlier.

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Ebejer had a long history of schizophrenic symptoms that were mistakenly believed to stem from his substance abuse disorder, according to a forensic psychiatrist’s report filed in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court.

On Monday, Judge Michael Allen imposed a sentence and a 12-month community corrections order for the public urination.

While such an act should normally merit strong condemnation, it was not appropriate in this case because of Ebejer’s long history of mental illness, he said.

“It is my view that his chronic schizophrenic illness, his strange behavior at the time … cannot be divorced from consideration of the seriousness of the offence,” the judge said.

A second charge of trespassing was dealt with without further conviction or penalty.

Ebejer is currently serving a sentence on unrelated charges and will be released on parole for those offenses on December 17, the court said.

The 22-year-old wore prison green as he watched via audio-visual link from Shortland Correctional Center but spoke little during the hearing.

Legal Aid lawyer Liam McKibbin said Abedger had been given high doses of anti-psychotics to treat his schizophrenia and would soon start treatment to deal with his cannabis abuse.

He also had the support of two NDIS carers in the community, the barrister said.

McKibbin successfully argued that no jail time should be imposed, saying the charge of contaminating goods with the intent to cause public alarm covered a wide range of acts from sticking needles in strawberries.

While the police prosecutor tried to argue that full-time detention was the only type of sentence available, this was promptly shot down by Allen.

“What benefit will this bring to society? How will this affect the safety of the community?” asked the judge.

Ebejer entered the downtown store shortly before midnight on July 1 and tossed a package of Tim Tam chewy caramel crackers from one aisle to another before proceeding downstairs to urinate, according to court documents.

After security was alerted, Woolworths staff were forced to cordon off the area, removing the meat and spending eight hours cleaning and sanitizing.

Ebejer immediately left the store but was found by police after CCTV images and footage were made public.

The Sadleir man pleaded guilty to one count of contaminating goods with intent to cause public alarm, as well as trespassing on closed land.

A third charge of offensive conduct during closed ground was withdrawn.