Lynton Ryan fined for throwing rock at Centrelink and aiming fake gun at family

A convicted arsonist has been fined for pretending to shoot at a family with a pole and for throwing bricks at Centrelink. Lynton Ryan, 28, appeared in Rockingham Magistrate’s Court last week and was fined $2200 plus court costs for pretending to be armed in a way that may cause fear, criminal damage or destruction of a property and breaching bail. Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jessica Anderson said that on February 16 last year Ryan was in a car stopped at traffic lights in Kwinana when a family he had been having disputes with pulled up behind him. She said Ryan opened the door and proceeded to hold out something that looked like a firearm and “gestured as though to shoot them”. The victims “believed he was holding a gun at them” and drove off quickly. Sen. Const. Anderson said police arrived at Ryan’s Kwinana home where they found a bicycle seat post that “was made to look like a firearm”. She said that on March 13, 2020, Ryan had got into a fight “with a man he had history with” and they were “throwing punches and rocks at each other” outside Centrelink in Rockingham. She said Ryan picked up a brick and threw it through the window of the Centrelink office. The offender was taken to Rockingham Hospital with injuries and told police “I was just defending myself”. Ryan’s lawyer Ian Farquhar said his client was “a whiz at fixing bikes” which was why he had the pole. His said throwing the bricks was “absolutely stupid” and Ryan was willing to pay for the costs of the window. The court was told Ryan had spent eight months in custody over two arson charges last year after he set two council bins alight in Boulder. Magistrate Joe Randazzo said if Ryan had not been jailed for arson, he would “seriously consider imprisonment” for the weapon and damage charges.