Fresh detail revealed as Woolies urinator learns his fate

A western Sydney man who urinated on several hundred dollars worth of meat during a bizarre incident inside a CBD Woolworths was suffering from chronic schizophrenia at the time, a court has been told. Lochlan James Ebejer, 22, was on Monday sentenced to a corrections order to be served in the community after he was earlier this year arrested over the July 1 incident that shocked onlookers. Ebejer walked into the store and urinated on products, causing more than $311 worth of damage to various meat products. According to a statement of agreed facts tendered to the court, he was apprehended for shoplifting at a Toongabbie Woolworths on June 13 this year and banned from all Woolworths supermarkets for six months. However late on July 1, he entered the CBD store and threw a packet of Tim Tams from one aisle to the next. According to the court documents, he then took the escalator to the bottom floor, approached the refrigerated meat aisle and stood within metres of four customers before he urinated on two meat shelves for 28 seconds. Footage from the incident, released as part of the public appeal, showed Ebejer tying up his drawstring pants as he exited up the escalator. Supermarket workers spent eight hours clearing and decontaminating the area. Police released CCTV as part of an appeal for information and Ebejer was arrested at Hunters Hill. He pleaded guilty to two charges – contaminating goods with intent to cause public alarm and trespassing. The court was told that he had suffered chronic schizophrenia since he was 16 as well as having a substance abuse disorder. The court was told he had two NDIS support workers who would support him upon his release. “His bizarre behaviour was attributable to his chronic condition,” his solicitor Liam McKibbin told the court. When Ebejer was arrested he was given conditional bail. However, in August he was jailed after being sentenced for unrelated matters, with his prison term due to expire on December 17, the court was told. Chief magistrate Michael Allen described Ebejer’s conduct as “bizarre” and noted that it would have caused concern for people who witnessed it. However, he said his offending “cannot be divorced” from his mental illness. He also took into account Ebejer was medicated for his schizophrenia and about to begin medication, in the form of long-lasting injections, for his substance abuse disorder. Ebejer was convicted and was sentenced to a 12-months community corrections order, which requires him to follow a treatment regimen.