Multiple witnesses made reports to police when they saw a man chasing his former partner around Lake Wendouree with his fist above his head, a court has heard.
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The man, who The Courier cannot name for legal reasons, had been arguing with the victim when he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the ground around 1pm in December 2020.
The Ballarat Magistrates' Court heard on Monday the man continued to follow her when she tried to run away.
One witness told police they heard the man say he would jump in front of a car if she did not come back and he continued yelling verbal abuse at the victim as she walked away.
Every act of assault and every breach of an intervention order is going to see you get a jail sentence.
- Magistrate Ron Saines
The witness said they saw the man run in front of multiple cars and run towards the victim with his fist clenched and arm above his head.
Another witness said they saw the altercation continue for about 15 minutes before the man left.
Police arrived and spoke to the victim who said the accused had made her feel 'like sh*t'.
The accused was breaching a family violence safety notice which prevented him from being within five metres of the victim, contacting her, or committing family violence against her.
Police found the accused at a nearby address and he said he knew he was breaching the order and he was in a 'sh**ty mood'.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charges of breaching a family violence safety notice, unlawful assault and the theft of more than $300 worth of items from Officeworks at court on Monday.
He appeared via video link from prison where he is already serving a sentence related to other offending.
The court heard the accused was sentenced in May on 39 charges relating to persistent breach of an intervention order, causing injury, threat to kill, unlawful assault and burglary.
He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment followed by a two-year community corrections order, with an expected release date in late August due to time already served.
Defence lawyer Scott Belcher said he conceded the 33-year-old had a lengthy criminal history across Australia and a jail term was a likely sentence.
But he asked the court to consider the issue of concurrency as this offending should have been included on the last sentencing date.
Magistrate Ron Saines said this offending was less serious than previous offending and it would have been unlikely the previous sentence would have been increased if it was included.
The accused was sentenced to one month imprisonment, to be served concurrently with the sentence he was now serving.
"Every act of assault and every breach of an intervention order is going to see you get a jail sentence," Mr Saines said.
"Breaches of intervention orders and use of threats and violence is not the way to deal with being angry.
"If you choose to continue to employ violence and disregard court orders this will be far from your last time in prison."
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