"Chop our future we chop yours," read one of 19 threatening letters a former University of Technology Sydney dean of science sent to herself and colleagues, a jury has heard.
One letter contained Dianne Jolley's underwear, with the attached note "sorry for your loss," while another included a photograph of her with a red line through it, crown prosecutor Roger Kimball said in his opening address on Tuesday in Sydney's District Court.
The 51-year-old orchestrated the scam to gain "emotional and physical" support for closing down the traditional Chinese medicine course, deemed the least financially viable in the science faculty, the Crown says.
She has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges including three for sending a letter with the intention of inducing a false belief that it would endanger the safety of her fellow staff.
These relate to messages sent via Australia Post to herself and colleagues, claiming to have been dipped in a "nasty" vibrio bacteria grown in the labs.
Sixteen counts are for conveying information likely to make a person fear for the safety of another person, knowing that the information was false or misleading between July 2019 and January 2020.
One additional charge is for causing financial disadvantage by deception after UTS spent more than $127,000 in security measures to protect her.
Expenses include CCTV cameras installed in her home and office, monitoring alarms, private security chaperoning her around the university, and hire cars driving between home and work.
In May 2019, Jolley recommended the Chinese medicine course finish but initially failed to gain support from the board given students were partially finished its three-four year duration.
In July she phoned UTS security services manager Shaun O'Mara, saying she received a threatening letter in her duffle bag, unaware how it got there, he said giving evidence.
Shortly after Jolley told police offers she had been abused on her way home by "someone in the Asian community".
The jury was told they will hear from forensic experts who matched her fingerprints to some of the letters, and to intercepted phone calls recorded by police after her first arrest in November 2019.
A day later she called her assistant saying she found the threats "really hard" but had enjoyed the initial support received. Eventually she made some "bad judgment calls," when the support began disappearing.
"Two letters were sent by me ... I should have seen a psychologist ... now they are accusing me of everything, vandalism, all these sorts of things," she is recorded saying.
In another call to her husband Jolley says "the worst thing that is going to happen is that I'll get lumped with everything".
Before her arrest, she picked up another letter at a post office box in Wollongong which read "I watch you I see what you do, you're not safe and you know it".
In September she found her clothing in the backyard cut up and slashed while a letter on her car read "I know where you live".
Following her first arrest, she phoned a family member saying she was disappointed, hoping more letters would turn up proving she was not the culprit.
But three different letters did arrive with identical notes claiming to be dipped in a biological substance.
These alleged fake letters prompted the university to shut down part of the campus and contact the hazardous chemicals department.
Jolley was again arrested in January 2020 and cautioned.
"What took place after her first arrest ... she continued to send letters to herself and staff at UTS to put forward the proposition that she was not a suspect. And to persist with some sort of mental health defence," Mr Kimball said.
The trial continues.
Australian Associated Press
