Perth man Liam Jared Knight in angry outburst outside court as he admits spraying swastikas around Joondanna

A man who pleaded guilty to graffitiing swastikas around a Perth suburb had a furious outburst outside court, saying he did not care if antisemitic symbols caused people distress. Liam Jared Knight, 36, pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to spraying swastika’s around Joondanna, in Perth’s inner-north, scrawling them on walls, vehicles and even a shopfront. The court heard Knight was drunk when he went into Bunnings at Osborne Park on November 23 last year and bought a red can of spray paint. Police Prosecutor Robert O’Neill said Knight then travelled to Edinboro Street Reserve “randomly”, spraying swastikas on his way and ending at a park where he sprayed a nazi symbol on the road and a bench. Outside of court, when Mr Knight was asked if he was a nazi, he replied “only on weekends”. When asked if it concerned him that the graffiti could hurt people or make them feel unsafe, he replied “Who gives a f*** with them bombing every country in the world”. He pleaded guilty to two counts of applying a nazi symbol to public property, graffiti and aggravated conduct likely to racially harass. A duty lawyer told Perth Magistrates Court that there was “no excused for his offending”. She said that Mr Knight, who receives a JobSeeker payment was “significantly intoxicated” at the time. She asked Deputy Chief Magistrate Elizabeth Woods to consider a community-based order or a suspended prison sentence. Ms Woods said this type of “serious offending” was having “an impact on the Jewish community today”. “The seriousness of the criminal conduct is obvious in relation to this type of offending”. She ordered a pre-sentence report on Mr Knight to be completed and adjourned his sentence until April 22. Headspace 1800 650 890