John Azzellino, 52, of Fairway Crescent, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to making threats to kill, threat to inflict serious injury and unlawful assault.

The court heard Azzellino’s daughter and the victim lived in a group of flats in Koroit Street.

In the early hours of the morning of October 13, 2013, Azzellino’s daughter made a noise complaint to the police about the victim.

When police attended there was no noise and they advised the daughter to contact them if she needed to.

Azzellino then arrived at the units and confronted the victim, yelling that he been declared insane and would kill him.

Azzellino then called triple-0 and told the victim he would find someone to kill him.

The victim returned to the unit and locked the door.

Azzellino was interviewed by police and made full admissions. When asked why he had committed the offences he said the victim had threatened to hurt his daughter and her boyfriend.

Defence counsel Amanda Chambers said it was fair to say Azzellino had exaggerated his desire to kill the victim and his insanity.

She said he was called by his daughter and there had been an ongoing dispute between her and the victim.

She said on this occasion Azzellino took the matters into his own hands.

Ms Chambers said he had been trying to scare and big note himself to protect his daughter.

She said Azzellino was relatively new to the area and lived with his son.

Magistrate Peter Mellas said the offending meant that when Azzellino made the threats he meant it and that’s why the maximum jail sentence was 10 years.

He said in the future when Azzellino decided to make someone else’s problems his own he should think long and hard before he got involved.

Azzellino was convicted and left the court on an undertaking of good behaviour which will be reviewed at a later hearing on January 5, 2015.