Premium Content Subscriber only A 71-year-old Ipswich disability pensioner has failed in a bid for bail as he faces charges of stalking three police officers and a senior court officer online. Russell Gordon Haig Mathews, from Booval, appeared from jail via video-link before Ipswich Magistrates Court on Wednesday to make his application, citing his fear of catching COVID-19 while on remand. Mathews is charged with unlawfully stalking a senior court registrar between January 1 and February 2 this year; three charges of stalking police; contravening an order about electronically stored information; and failing to appear at court on December 11 last year. Mathews is defending the charges based on his held belief that he was exercising his right to freedom of political communication.