Neighbour from hell terrorises one of Australia's most exclusive suburbs after a noise complaint was made against him
Andrew Cambouris, 56, terrorised his neighbours from his home in Manly, on Sydney 's Northern Beaches.
Cambouris spent 10 years living at the Bridge Housing accommodation on Pittwater Road before his apparent meltdown in early May.
The spiral began when a noise complaint was made against Cambouris after he played loud music.
The 56-year-old assumed a neighbour living across the road was responsible and set about making his life hell.
'My wife and son and I are exiting the property a couple of days later, he started shouting threats, "I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna stab youse",' the neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, told News Corp.
The neighbour's wife came home by herself that night and Cambouris continued his threats.
However, the family initially wanted to avoid contacting police for fear of further aggravating him.
Cambouris' aggression continued to grow on May 16 when the neighbour and his son began setting up a CCTV camera outside their home.
The neighbour recalled Cambouris 'screaming threats' while holding what appeared to be a shotgun, which was later found to be fake.
The neighbour filmed as Cambouris yelled: 'Ah film me, f*** you, get f***ed. You wanna die? I'll f***ing kill you, f***wit.'
Police received the video and a formal statement from the neighbour and Cambouris was arrested.
He was charged with weapon offences as, under NSW, crimes with replication or imitation firearms carry similar penalties to those with real firearms.
Possessing a fake gun without a permit could result in a maximum of 14 years behind bars.
Cambouris was released on bail several days later under strict conditions.
Those included undergoing mandatory breathalyser checks and not crossing the road towards the neighbour or his family.
While the neighbour felt uneasy about Cambouris' return, he expected the 56-year-old would 'quieten down'.
However, his rants took a frightening new turn on May 25.
Disturbing footage showed Cambouris hurling anti-Semitic abuse from his balcony, despite the neighbour not being Jewish.
'Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Kill all the Jews, ya f**king c***s!' he was heard yelling.
The neighbour filmed the incident and called police but officers were unable to reach Cambouris as he'd barricaded himself inside his home.
'They said, "Look, there's not much we can do, he won't come to the door and we can't get access" and then left. That spurred him on even more,' the neighbour said.
Cambouris later played audio from a Hitler speech at a Nuremberg rally, announced himself as the 'Antichrist', and called methamphetamine a 'cure'.
'Do you know the Nazis almost won World War II?' Cambouris yelled during one rant.
'Methamphetamine is the answer! But you must use it and not abuse it, or it will kill you. Paranoia will destroy ya!'
The neighbour enlisted the help of criminal barrister Peter Lavac on June 6 after Cambouris crossed the street towards him.
Mr Lavac attended Dee Why Police Station with the neighbour on June 9 and Cambouris was arrested the same day about 6.30pm.
He was charged with breach of bail and fronted Manly Local Court on June 11.
Cambouris pleaded guilty to the weapons charge and was remanded in custody.
He faced the same court again on July 9 and pleaded guilty to several other offences, including intimidating and assaulting police.
Cambouris will be sentenced on August 20.
However, the neighbour and his family are frightened of what will happen after Cambouris is sentenced.
'My daughter was too terrified to come over. I had a cricket bat inside the door, we left [the house] as a family unit, we were genuinely in fear of our lives,' he said.
In order for Cambouris to be evicted from Bridge Housing, the charity must submit a request to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Proceedings with the tribunal have begun and the case is listed for July 30.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Former judge's excuse for leaking confidential material from Bruce Lehrmann inquiry
A former judge's decision to leak confidential material from an inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann 's criminal prosecution was an attempt at transparency not an act of corruption, his lawyers say. Walter Sofronoff KC has asked the Federal Court to toss a March finding by the ACT Integrity Commission that the former judge engaged in serious corrupt conduct. The commission's probe stemmed from Mr Sofronoff's leaks to a journalist. But the watchdog's adverse finding was a 'serious offence against the administration of justice', Mr Sofronoff's barrister Adam Pomerenke KC said during a hearing on Monday. Mr Sofronoff was not corrupt, malicious or dishonest, the barrister told Justice Wendy Abrahams. Rather, he genuinely believed he was acting in the public interest by sending documents like witness statements to the media. 'Even if Mr Sofronoff was wrong in his view, the fact remains that he genuinely and honestly held it,' Mr Pomerenke said. 'At worst it could be characterised as an erroneous attempt to ensure accuracy and transparency in the public discourse.' Mr Sofronoff chaired a board of inquiry into the ACT's criminal justice system after Lehrmann's controversy-plagued prosecution. The former Liberal staffer was accused of raping then-colleague Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office at Parliament House in 2019. A 2022 criminal trial was abandoned without a verdict due to juror misconduct. Lehrmann lost a defamation lawsuit he brought over media reporting of Ms Higgins' allegations but has appealed a judge's finding the rape claim was true on the balance of probabilities. The Sofronoff-led inquiry found the ACT's top prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, had lost objectivity over the Lehrmann case and knowingly lied about a note of his meeting with broadcaster Lisa Wilkinson. Mr Drumgold resigned and launched a legal challenge to the findings in the ACT Supreme Court. It found the majority of the inquiry's findings were not legally unreasonable, but it struck down an adverse finding about how Mr Drumgold cross-examined then-Liberal senator Linda Reynolds during Lehrmann's criminal trial. In March, the ACT Integrity Commission also found the majority of the inquiry's findings were not legally unreasonable. But it found Mr Sofronoff's behaviour during the inquiry gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias and he might have been influenced by the publicly expressed views of journalist Janet Albrechtsen. Mr Sofronoff repeatedly messaged the News Corp columnist and eventually provided her an advance copy of his probe's final report. Mr Pomerenke told the Federal Court on Monday the ACT corruption body had admitted it made an error in finding Mr Sofronoff might have engaged in contempt. The claimed contempt stemmed out of leaks to the media despite directions made to parties during the inquiry to suppress certain documents. But the notion that the head of an inquiry could be in contempt of himself was 'absurd and irrational', Mr Pomerenke said. This concession was enough to toss the findings against his client, he told the court. Any individual error could not be 'disentangled' from the final finding that the former judge engaged in serious corrupt conduct, the barrister said.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Walter Sofronoff had no ‘corrupt, dishonest or malicious motive' in leaking Lehrmann inquiry report, lawyer argues
Former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff sincerely believed he was acting for the public good when he leaked his report on the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann to two journalists before it was made public, the federal court has heard. Hearings began on Monday into Sofronoff's legal challenge to findings by the Australian Capital Territory's corruption watchdog that he had engaged in 'serious corrupt conduct' by leaking the report of his investigation into the Lehrmann case to Janet Albrechtsen at the Australian and Elizabeth Byrne at the ABC, ahead of its official release. There was 'overwhelming evidence that Mr Sofronoff genuinely believed he was acting in the public good', and attempting to aid accuracy of media reportage, his counsel Adam Pomerenke KC told the court. 'Even if Mr Sofronoff was wrong in his view, the fact remains that he genuinely and honestly held it. This is not a corrupt, dishonest or malicious motive. At worst, it could be characterised as an erroneous attempt to ensure accuracy and transparency in public discourse. That cannot rationally be described as corrupt,' Pomerenke said. Bruce Lehrmann was accused of raping Brittany Higgins in the ministerial office of senator Linda Reynolds at Parliament House in 2019. He denied those allegations. A 2022 criminal trial was aborted because of juror misconduct, and prosecutors decided against a re-trial. Sofronoff was appointed by the ACT government to determine whether the investigation into the aborted Lehrmann trial had been affected by political influence or interference. His report ruled out political influence or interference but made 'serious findings of misconduct' against prosecutor Shane Drumgold, which were partially overturned in March 2024. The ACT Integrity Commission launched an investigation in May 2024 to determine whether Sofronoff acted corruptly in leaking the confidential documents. The commission's findings, known as the Juno report, said Sofronoff claimed his conduct 'complied with the requirements of the Inquiries Act' and that, in leaking the documents, he had 'acted in the public interest to ensure the media were adequately informed' about his inquiry and 'in a position to comment accurately' about it. The commission found that Sofronoff 'had not, in fact, acted in good faith', that his actions 'undermined the integrity of the Board's processes and the fairness and probity of its proceedings to such an extent as to have been likely to have threatened public confidence in the integrity of that aspect of public administration. It therefore constituted serious corrupt conduct.' Sofronoff rejected a characterisation by the ACT Integrity Commission in its findings that he had become 'a fellow traveller' of Albrechtson, Pomerenke told the court. The phrase was first used to describe Sofronoff by Justice Stephen Kaye when finding in March 2024 that Sofronoff's extensive communications with Albrechtson had given rise to an impression of bias against prosecutor Shane Drumgold during the inquiry into the Lehrmann trial. The concept of the 'fellow traveller' being redeployed in the context of the Juno report was 'simply unrecognisable'; it was 'a meaningless slogan' with no clear definition, and 'seriously problematic' when used in that way, Pomerenke told the court on Monday. 'What is it supposed to mean? Is it that Mr Sofronoff shared an actual opinion or belief [with Janet Albrechtson]? If so, what is the opinion or belief that he actually shared? None is identified. And how could that opinion or belief rationally lead Mr Sofronoff to sacrificing the public interest in pursuit of the unidentified opinion or belief that he held?' Even if one vehemently disagreed with what Sofronoff did, it should not be described as corrupt, Pomerenke told the court. Sofronoff is seeking to have the finding of the corruption watchdog overturned partly on the basis of what he claims are a series of errors – an argument that turns on the interpretation of what constitutes 'serious corrupt conduct' in the integrity commission act – and on a lack of evidence that he leaked the report with malicious intent, the court heard. The ACT Integrity Commission failed in May in an attempt to have Sofronoff's challenge to the report nixed on the grounds that it was subject to parliamentary privilege. The hearing continues.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Unsettling sight on Aussie streets as cops allegedly make disturbing discovery in the boot of a 'Chinese Police' car
A motorist has been arrested after allegedly driving a 'Chinese Police' vehicle around Sydney with live ammunition in the boot. NSW Police spotted the Mercedes S-Class in Strathfield, in the city's inner west, at about 2.50pm on Friday. The vehicle had police insignia on the doors and bonnet with the word 'police' displayed in Mandarin and the incorrect spelling of 'poilce' in English. The driver, 21, allegedly presented a forged document to officers, claiming the vehicle was used to transport Chinese consulate officials. Officers searched the car and allegedly found a box containing 48 live rounds of ammunition in the boot. The driver allegedly claimed the boot was the 'best place' to store the ammunition and that he had a valid firearms licence and two guns secured at his home. Police seized the ammunition and other items allegedly used to impersonate police. At a Baulkham Hills home, officers later found two gel-blasters and seized the man's registered firearms pending a review of his licence. The man was hit with a slew of charges including use display emergency services organisation insignia and drive motor vehicle with unlawful police insignia. He was also charged with use false document to influence exercise of public duty and holder of Category A or B licence not have approved storage (two counts). The other charges included provide information known to be false or misleading, possess unauthorised prohibited firearm, and not comply P2 licence condition not display P plates. He was granted bail and will appear at Burwood Local Court on Tuesday.
