Castislav 'Sam' Bracanov guilty of throwing horse manure at a judge
Thursday, 15 September 2016
Serial mud-slinger Castislav Bracanov says he threw poo at a district court judge for 'the people of New Zealand'.
Bracanov has been found guilty of assault in Auckland District Court for throwing animal faeces at Auckland District Court Judge Anne Kiernan in March.
Both inside and outside court, Bracanov said she deserved it.
'Respect has to be earned,' he said.
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'I just done my job, that's all. I had no right to hurt anybody, I just give her what she deserve [sic].'
Bracanov has previously thrown horse manure at John Banks in 2014 and sprayed air freshener at Prince Charles in 1994.
He also plotted to coat the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall in poo on their last visit to New Zealand.
Judge Kiernan was the judge who ordered Bracanov to pay a $400 fine, plus $130 in court costs, for attacking Banks.
At the time, Bracanov said the judge, who was unharmed by the attack, was 'not human' for finding him guilty.
On Thursday, the court heard how Bracanov approached the bench at a low speed with his hand in his pocket during a court case unrelated to him on March 10 this year.
About two metres away from the judge, he threw a handful of what appeared to be a 'dirt-like substance,' court registrar Victoria Hix recounted.
Bracanov said afterwards it was horse manure, Hix said. 'It's difficult to tell when it's dry.'
Judge Kiernan then left the courtroom, and Bracanov was restrained by police who were already in the court.
Constable Nicole McCartney then told the court how Judge Kiernan said 'stop' as Bracanov approached the bench, but he continued towards her and flung the soil at her from about two metres away.
A large amount of manure scattered across the judge's desk, appearing to land in her lap.
Bracanov told McCartney afterwards: 'I've been waiting one year for this, one whole year … she deserves this, her and John Banks. She's not the people's judge, she is the fascist judge, she talks s… so she gets s….'
He had bought the horse manure from Mangere, he said.
'There's plenty, plenty of horse s… there.You can buy a whole bag for $2, I've only got half a bucket.'
When it came time to give evidence, Bracanov, representing himself, had to move to the evidence box - around where he was standing when he threw the manure at Judge Kiernan.
'You might be able to throw something at me, I don't want you to get too close. I'm making a joke,' Judge Stan Thorburn said.
He then requested Bracanov empty his pockets before proceeding further.
In a wide-ranging rant, Bracanov said he had an issue with people who were in positions of power without earning it.
'She and John Banks deserve it, I'm very proud of it. If you want to be someone special you wait your turn like the rest of us, and that's a democracy … I'm not a sheep.'
Bracanov said he threw manure at Kiernan as revenge, because she did not allow him to talk when he appeared at court charged with throwing manure at Banks.
'She was the judge that time when I was with John Banks…she did not allow that I say a few words.'
Judge Thorburn said as far as he could see Bracanov had raised no defence. 'Curiously, there's a very unusual level of utter transparency about Mr Bracanov.'
The Auckland pensioner, who is also known as Sam, has a speckled history.
He has lived in New Zealand for nearly 50 years and had already been marked as a potential threat ahead of the 2013 royal visit because of an incident in 1994, when he sprayed air freshener at Prince Charles who was on a royal walkabout at Auckland's Viaduct Basin.
But his updated plot to cover the royals with horse manure was foiled when a detective visited Bracanov at home a week before the royal visit to find him lying on a couch next to a bucket of 'yellow-coloured liquid.'
He discussed his plan quite openly with the detective.
'Royal family? I call them the smell family,' Bracanov told Detective John Mathieson.
Police eventually apprehended him sitting on a bench in Auckland during the royal visit, with a green bag between his feet. He lunged for the bag, police pounced, and he was later convicted of behaving in a manner that implied he was preparing to commit a crime.
At the end of that trial, he told the court: 'I'll do it again and again. I'll win one day.'
This proved at least partially true in 2014, when he managed to coat former ACT leader John Banks in his home-made poo concoction as the politician entered Auckland's High Court, ruining his suit. During his trial, Bracanov repeated his mantra that he would do it again and said the judge was 'not human' for finding him guilty.
Bracanov was remanded for sentencing on November 22.
A SPECKLED HISTORY
1992: Throws manure on a visiting Rolls Royce and was fined $10,000. This gave him the motivation for attacking Banks more than a decade later: Bracanov believed he should have only been fined $2000. Banks was police minister at the time.
1994: Sprays air freshener at Prince Charles while he is on a royal walkabout at Auckland's Viaduct Basin.
2013: Plots to throw watered-down horse manure on Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla of Cornwall.
2014: Succeeds in throwing his poo concoction on former ACT leader John Banks as he enters the Auckland High Court on the first day of his trial on charges of knowingly filing a false electoral return. The charges related to his failed 2010 bid for the Auckland mayoralty.