Neil Andrew Jackson, 41, admitted to authoring the message, which read “Pull ya head in, ya c---, or you won’t have a head to pull in”. 

The message continued: “The boys have been notified and they r on standby to act and as for your campaign the news will f--- ya!”

Documents tendered to the court revealed Jackson was in a relationship with the daughter of the drover Mr Funnell pleaded guilty to intimidating after an incident on his Collingullie property in 2017. 

Jackson was working in Collingullie as a fencing contractor at the time and sent the text message at 8:35pm on August 17, just hours after Mr Funnell had those intimidation charges dropped by a Wagga magistrate. 

The documents revealed Jackson’s partner had been involved in an “incident” outside Mr Funnell’s property earlier that day before his court hearing.

Jackson told police he wrote the message after becoming “frustrated” that he could not help her.

Mr Funnell contacted police after receiving the message, later telling them it made him fear for his family’s safety and led him to spend the entire night standing guard in his driveway.

On Wednesday, Jackson was fined $750 by Wagga Local Court for sending the message.

He did not front court, instead apologising for the incident in a written indication of his plea. 

“This is out of my character to commit this offence,” Jackson wrote.

“I’m sincerely sorry for any wrongdoing or discomfort that I caused Mr Funnell and his family.”

Speaking to The Daily Advertiser after the sentence had been handed down, Mr Funnell said he was disappointed with the outcome. 

“We spent thousands updating our security, and yet this bloke gets nothing,” Mr Funnell said.

“My wife and children still live in fear – our life was threatened and he gets a $750 fine and doesn’t appear in court.” 

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