A man has admitted to sending Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge a threatening letter demanding $100,000 on a hotel bill with his real name on the back.
Brendon Berry, 54, pleaded guilty to sending the menacing letter, which was sent to Beveridge’s home last year. Beveridge says he has never met Berry, nor heard of him until the letter.
Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard Beveridge was “shocked and angry” when he opened the letter, which referenced the Moran crime family, after he returned from an interstate trip on June 28, 2025.
Prosecutor Andrew McCowan said the letter did not detail specific threats, but insinuated them, causing extra security for Beveridge at an AFL match against North Melbourne.
“No one likes a hero or a liar. Now you know you have done a bad thing. Do yourself a favour and for once in your life do the right thing, pay what you owe,” the letter said, according to a summary read out in court.
“No tomorrow, and this is it. I’m no f—wit pal and it’s hurt me like the Moran’s [sic] hurt Carl. If you think life is a joke it’s not. No second chance my friend, take stock.”
The letter, which Berry’s defence lawyer conceded was “unsophisticated”, then referenced late Collingwood footballer Darren Millane, who died in a car crash in 1991.
“P.S. Darren Millane, do you remember a fair dusting-off wasn’t it. How many chances do you want. No more.”
Beveridge’s victim impact statement made it clear he did not feel sufficiently intimidated to comply with the demand to pay $100,000 into Berry’s bank account.
“I found it deeply disturbing that a person who did not know me could be so callous as to strike fear into everyone close to me in my life,” Beveridge’s statement said.
“What frustrated me most was the disregard shown for the impact such a letter could have … it almost sent me down a vigilante-thinking track.”
Beveridge added: “The letter triggered a side of me that I now know is there if I’m ever threatened like this again.”
Beveridge initially tuned into the hearing on Friday morning but was not present on an online link in the afternoon when the matter was eventually called.
Defence lawyer Katie Powell said the letter was “unsophisticated” and “inexplicable” as Berry was unable to provide much reason about why he sent it.
Magistrate Siobhan Whittle then intervened to add: “That’s why it has such a chilling quality.”
Powell said Berry believed he went to school with Beveridge in the 1980s, but this was disputed by the Western Bulldogs coach.
“He realises, of course, that he should not have sent that letter,” Powell said, adding: “It had nothing to do with Mr Beveridge’s occupation as a public figure.”
The court heard Berry had a notable criminal history, including being jailed for an aggravated burglary with a firearm, but had stayed out of trouble since his last sentence in 2014.
His defence lawyer said he was an Aboriginal man with mental health troubles who had been unemployed for much of his adult life.
“At this point, I’m concerned about the factors that have driven this offending which are something unresolved from your client’s perspective,” Whittle said.
“At this point, I’m going to have him assessed for a community corrections order [CCO] with a mental health appointment.”
Berry remained silent for much of the hearing, apart from letting out a loud sigh and assuring the magistrate he would “absolutely” co-operate when he was assessed for a CCO.
Berry will return to court next Thursday to hear his sentence for one count of using a postal service to menace and one count of failing to answer bail.
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