Man who caused St Andrew's Cathedral School lockdown to be released from custody

News.com.au

22-05-2025

The man who threatened staff at the school where water polo coach Lilie James was murdered by Paul Thijssen will walk free on Thursday.
Marc Ben James O'Har, 46, appeared at Downing Centre Court on Thursday to be sentenced after being charged over his erratic behaviour at St Andrew's Cathedral School on Monday that sent the building into lockdown.
O'Har, 46. pleaded guilty to one charge of enter enclosed lands without lawful excuse, one charge of intimidate – intend fear physical etc harm and one charge of goods in custody.
The court was told of O'Har's extensive criminal record.
His defence acknowledged that he'd made 'very silly decisions' and said he had been subjected to 'particularly onerous' conditions in custody due to delays and had been on suicide watch.
She suggested to the court that O'Har had already been 'substantially punished' due to these factors.
The court was told that O'Har had recently come out of jail and had only slept on a mattress seven times since his release.
He was introduced to heroin by his brother at 13, the same brother who now wanted to assist in getting O'Har to rehab, the court was told.
Magistrate Susan McIntyre sentenced O'Har to a community corrections order (CCO) for 12 months for stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm.
The CCO is subject to additional conditions of O'Har being supervised by a Community Corrections Officer and him reporting to City Community Corrections within 24 hours upon release from custody
These conditions were added to a previous CCO issued on May 6 in relation to a domestic violence incident.
No penalty was imposed for the charge of enter enclosed lands without lawful excuse and the charge of goods in personal custody suspected being stolen.
O'Har previously had an outburst during a hearing on Tuesday.
When asked by magistrate Greg Grogin if he would like to speak to his solicitor on Tuesday after refusing to do so the night before, O'Har teed off.
He said he was 'f**king naked' when his solicitor contacted him, and he did not want to speak to a lawyer in the nude.
O'Har continued to speak rapidly and loudly, with expletives littered throughout, despite Mr Grogin's interjections.
The outburst stopped when Mr Grogin sternly told Mr O'Har to stop speaking, after which O'Har confirmed that he would now like to speak to his legal representative.
Following the outburst, the court was told that O'Har walked straight into a room full of students on Monday after threatening to jab a security guard with a needle.
O'Har threatened a security guard who attempted to stop him from entering the school.
'Don't touch me or I will jab you with a needle,' the court was told O'Har had said.
He later returned to the premises and saw the same security guard, prompting O'Har to say, 'Do you remember me? I know you.'
He then walked in through the sliding doors.
O'Har was then able to enter a classroom full of students, at which point his lawyer said his client realised the extent of what he had done and began to leave the premises on his own.
Police attended the school about 9.45am on Monday after reports a man had earlier threatened staff and returned to the campus, NSW Police said in a statement.
'The school was placed in lockdown and a search of the building, on the corner of Druitt and Kent streets, was conducted with the assistance of specialist resources,' NSW Police said.
'Despite an extensive search of the grounds, the man could not be located, and the lockdown was lifted.'
About noon, police were called to a hotel in Surry Hills where O'Har was allegedly acting erratically and refusing to leave the premises.
He was arrested and identified as the same man wanted over the alleged earlier incident at St Andrew's.
O'Har was taken to Surry Hills police station and charged.
It is understood O'Har is not connected with the school but is one of many homeless people sleeping rough near Town Hall.
A school spokeswoman described O'Har as having been 'disorientated' when he entered the school grounds.
'We have now established that a disorientated man entered an external area of the senior school and was off site less than a minute later,' she said.
'The school thanks its staff and the NSW Police for their professional and calm response.'
Ms James was murdered by Thijssen on the evening of October 25, 2023.
He cornered her inside a bathroom of the prestigious Sydney private school where they were colleagues.
The water polo coach died due to blunt force trauma to the head after being attacked with a hammer by her ex-partner, whom she had broken up with a few days before her murder.
Hours after the murder, Thijssen took his own life at Vaucluse, with his remains found in the rocks at Diamond Bay Reserve two days after Ms James's murder.