Couple Sentenced For Faking Death Threats to get Days off Work

Every here and there Australians take sickies to get off work. After all, it’s only a simple phone call to the boss on a Friday morning to get a sneaky long weekend.

But this Adelaide couple have taken it next level, faking death threats to score paid holidays and time off from their government job.

The pair, who was sentenced today, went to extreme lengths to get out of their job at South Australia’s Aboriginal health service.

Simon Peisley and Tabitha Lean sent dozens of death threats to their office, home and their children's school.

They even sent letters with items of their children’s clothing stained with fake blood and painted the walls and windows of their home with tomato sauce.

One of the letters said “We’re waiting for that baby of yours. We’re going to slice her from ear to ear.”

Because the threats were related to their work, the couple were then able to receive paid holidays and time off.

They also made a compensation claim, with the state government agreeing to pay a $580,000 settlement before they were caught.

Today, they were found guilty of more than 45 counts of deception and are both set to spend three years in gaol.

Lean was offered home detention to look after the children, while Peisley will serve his time behind bars.

So next time you think about an elaborate hoax to score time off work, it might be best to sticking to the odd sickie.