A man persistently breached an intervention order and harassed his former partner by texting her dozens of times over a two month period, including a stretch of seven days in a row.
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The victim said in a statement to the court she had anxiety and sleeping problems because she was worried about the safety of herself and her children.
The accused, who The Courier cannot name for legal reasons, had been with the victim for nine-and-a-half-years, they had one child together and the victim had three other children.
A full intervention order was put in place on October 9, 2020, preventing the accused from contacting the victim.
Police lawyer Jenna Bridges said the accused sent more than 35 text messages from October 23 to November 30 and made two calls.
The contents of the messages included asking the victim to tell the children he missed them, asking about a Netflix account and the victim having conversations with another man.
If there are further family violence or breach of intervention order offences you must expect you will be a strong candidate for further imprisonment.
- Magistrate Ron Saines
In one of the messages the accused mentioned the victim's sister, which made her fear the accused had driven past her home and seen her sister's car in the driveway.
He made comments acknowledging he knew about the intervention order, saying 'I hope this doesn't get me into trouble'.
In one message the accused said the victim had 'ruined' him.
The court heard the accused made full admissions to police about contravening the intervention order and said he was struggling with not seeing his children.
Defence lawyer David Tamanika said the accused had moved out of the family property in August and had not returned and had consistent accommodation living with his friend.
He said the accused had ongoing employment and had engaged with a legal service about negotiating child access.
Mr Tamanika said none of the messages the accused sent were threatening or violent.
"He says his offending was caused by his lack of appreciation for what the law had dictated and he was emotionally affected," he said.
Mr Saines said the accused had a significant criminal history including jail time for driving and dishonesty matters, but there had been no breaches of intervention orders in the past.
He said the contact was persistent and prohibited.
The accused was convicted and fined $2000, $1000 each on the charges of persistently contravening an intervention order and using a carriage service to harass.
He was ordered to pay $127 in court costs.
"This is yet another conviction you have," Mr Saines said.
"If there are further family violence or breach of intervention order offences you must expect you will be a strong candidate for further imprisonment."
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