Raymond Brookes, a resident of Sydney, has been released from custody and is set to fulfill a 15-month community correction order after being found guilty of sending four letters that promoted hatred and violence.
Among the letters, two were directed to Lakemba Mosque, while the others were addressed to WA Senator Fatima Payman and Education Minister Jason Clare.
During the court proceedings, Brookes’s attorney contended that he had been consuming alcohol excessively and had become engrossed in harmful online content at the time of the offenses.
In a video appearance at Bankstown Local Court, Brookes, 70, was seen wearing a dark green prison sweater and frequently drinking water as he awaited his hearing.
Legal Aid counsel Danilo Rajkovic informed the court that Brookes had been experiencing isolation and battling alcohol dependency prior to sending the threatening correspondence. “He was drinking daily, often to the point of sleep… he became absorbed in media like Sky News and YouTube,” Rajkovic explained, adding that Brookes had “fallen into some type of internet rabbit hole.”
Rajkovic further elaborated that Brookes was under significant stress due to housing issues, which contributed to his vulnerability to misleading media narratives. “It was a combination of factors that made him susceptible to being influenced by certain media, perhaps even propaganda,” he stated.
The court received a two-page letter of apology from Brookes, which Rajkovic described as a demonstration of his remorse. “The events surrounding these incidents were not reflective of his typical behavior,” he remarked.
Magistrate George Breton noted that the letters sent by Brookes targeted a wide range of community members. “He exhibited a general disdain for society… inciting a brand of hatred and violence that appears to be increasing globally,” Breton commented. “Such sentiments are seen on our screens daily, with individuals like Mr. Brookes contributing to the cycle of hate.”
Consequently, Brookes was sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction order that mandates strict community supervision and requires him to undergo alcohol rehabilitation. Breton emphasized that incarceration should be considered a last resort, taking into account the three months Brookes had already spent in custody since being denied bail in January.
In March, Brookes pled guilty to four counts of sending letters that threatened severe bodily harm or death. Two of the four-page letters were sent to Lakemba Mosque on January 22, one addressed to the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network and the other to the mosque itself. Additionally, he issued threats to protesters in a four-page letter sent to Senator Payman on January 26. In a separate incident in 2023, Brookes sent a two-page letter to Minister Clare’s electoral office in Sydney’s western region.
Forensic analysis of the letters and their envelopes revealed fingerprints that matched Brookes’s, leading to his arrest following a police raid on his residence in Belmore, located in south-west Sydney, in January.
Notably, Lakemba Mosque was targeted multiple times, receiving four letters containing threats over a six-week period, two of which were from Brookes. The threats specifically aimed at the Muslim community, the mosque, and members of the Lebanese Muslim Association, coinciding with the significant period of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims.
