An "irrational" man threatened to kill a Queensland magistrate and blow up a courthouse after becoming disillusioned with the Victorian justice system, a jury has heard.
Steven Roy Evans, 37, pleaded not guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Monday to nine charges including unlawful stalking and using a carriage service to make threats to kill.
It's alleged he was behind threatening emails sent to the Ipswich Courthouse from different addresses in February 2013.
On the first day of his trial the jury was shown emails with subject lines including "you're all dead" and "i hate you".
Their content included demands for various people to be released from jail or risk the courthouse or watchhouse being blown up.
Several also threatened to shoot and kill local magistrate Virginia Sturgess.
"It is a simple story - a case of irrational behaviour based upon a past or perceived grievance," Crown prosecutor Dennis Kinsella said in his opening address.
He said there was no direct evidence connecting Evans to the alleged crimes but rather a circumstantial case against him, noting the "real issue" for the jury would be whether or not he'd sent the emails.
In particular, he said the accused man had become disillusioned with the way a victim assistance scheme application he had made in Victoria had been dealt with in 2011.
Evans had even tried to escalate the matter to then-prime minister Julia Gillard by sending a complaint to her office, the jury heard.
Mr Kinsella said Queensland Police intercepted him after tracking a media access control address (MAC) unique to a device "not unlike a fingerprint" and cross-referencing it with public wi-fi and a business's network records.
In her evidence, Magistrate Sturgess said she was worried "greatly" by the email sent from an account using her name and became concerned someone would follow her home to figure out where she lived.
But asked by defence lawyer Mark Green if she'd ever dealt with Evans, she said: "As far as I know, never".
The trial continues before Judge Michael Burnett.
