Six stalkers to go through South Australian courts in 2022

From a jilted Tinder creep seeking revenge to a woman’s disturbing campaign of terror, these are the stalkers who have appeared in SA courts this year.

Stalkers aren’t always creepy people lurking around corners of dark alleys, they can be well-presented professionals who appear normal to the rest of the world.
For police to prove a person is guilty of stalking, they will have to show that these behaviours occurred on at least two separate occasions and the person intended to cause either serious physical or mental harm or serious apprehension or fear.
In some instances the mental element of the stalker is more focused on ‘possessiveness’ and ‘love’, rather than any intention to cause harm or fear.
However, according to statistics stalking offences are on a downward trend.
Data released by SA police reveals 535 stalking offences were reported in South Australia in 2017/18, making it the highest in a five-year period.

431 stalking offences were reported in 2019/20, 422 in 2020/21, 330 in 2021/22 and 134 have been reported in the year to date for 2022/23.

To help people to be vigilant with their online and personal safety, police have provided the following tips and crime prevention advice:

■ Consider the amount of personal information you publish on social media and online and who can access it

■ Consider disabling location settings on social media apps that you use

■ Keep notes of any unwanted contact and keep all electronic contact with the person

■ Consider blocking that person from being able to contact you by phone or through social media apps

■ When meeting someone new for the first time, ensure it is in a populated public place and tell at least one person where you are and who you are with

■ Be aware of your surroundings and know your location at all times

■ Carry a personal safety alarm or mobile phone

■ If you feel unsafe, head for a well-populated area

■ Trust your instincts; if you feel unsafe, move immediately and be prepared to call for help

If you believe that you are being stalked or harassed, report it to police on 131 444 or your nearest police station. In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

For more safety and security tips, go to SAPOL – Safety and security tips (police.sa.gov.au)
These are the stalkers who have gone through South Australian courts in 2022.

Wendy Sutton

A Christies Downs woman, who sent more than 1000 threatening text messages to a former colleague calling her a ‘murderer’, also tracked down her victim’s home address and attempted suicide at the property, a court heard.

The founding member of an anti-poverty network was being investigated for stalking when police uncovered she was also trafficking cannabis.

Wendy Janette Sutton, 60, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, stalking and seven counts of beached bail in the Christies Beach Magistrate Court.

The court heard Sutton was in charge of liaising with other network groups in 2020 to obtain grant money for a project when she received a grant of $2000 for the network group.

However, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Sutton allegedly misused the funds.

Sutton was asked to repay the funds but refused as she was not comfortable providing her bank account details and was stood down.

The court heard the fallout from her anti-poverty network sent Sutton in a ‘spiral’ blaming her colleagues for her life falling apart and led her to believing she was a victim of harassment and the group were trying to ruin her life.

Sutton was issued with a stalking caution in March 2021 but proceeded to ignore it, sending former colleague more than 1000 threatening text messages and calling more than 500 time.

Between June 18 and 23, 2021 Sutton sent more than 200 text messages which included: ‘Why can’t you answer your phone you f***ing r****d’ and “you are a murderer”.

The stress of Sutton’s messages led the victim to suffer a stroke and move to a gated community, the court heard.

On October 10, 2021 the victim found paperwork on her front porch of her new home with writing saying “I warned you, I will find you” and “got you”.

Sutton was sentenced to nine months and four days imprisonment for the drug trafficking charge plus six months and four days for the stalking and breaches of bail.

Both sentences were suspended on a good behaviour bond of two years for a sum of $500.

David Renfrey

David James Renfrey. Picture: Facebook

A former real estate agent and father-of-two called his stalking precautions ‘ridiculous’ as he continuously messaged his former partner.

David James Renfrey, 34, pleaded guilty to stalking in the Christies Beach Magistrate Court.

The court heard Renfrey sent his former partner multiple messages via email as well as phone calls between July 28, 2020 and July 7, 2021 after the couple had broken up.

“The relationship ended in March as a result of stalking type behaviour from the defendant,” Police prosecutor Nicola Buckle told the court.

“She (the victim) was shopping at Reynella when she received phone calls from the defendant from a blocked number and told him not to contact him again.”

Renfrey however, persisted by emailing the victim for her birthday despite her request to no longer contact her.

In November 2020, Renfrey again made a number of phone calls to the victim from a private number.

“She received various emails and phone calls … basically monthly,” prosecutor Buckle said.

“On July 16th she received information from her friend who said the defendant had been contacting her about the victim.”

The court heard when he was spoken to by police Renfrey was “quite uncooperative” during his interview which he called “ridiculous” before admitting he had been contacting her.

“He told police that the victim was sending him mixed signals and messages,” prosecutor Buckle said.

Renfrey was sentenced to six months and nine days of imprisonment, suspended for 18 months on a good behaviour bond.

Luigi Tammaro

Luigi Tammaro. Picture: Facebook

A truck driver who stalked his ex and sent her relentless threatening messages escalated to running her off the road on a high-speed expressway, a court heard.

Luigi Tammaro, 38, was jailed in the District Court after he stalked the victim by calling her up to 200 times a day between February and June 2018.

“Your contact included sending messages threatening to post sensitive images of her on Facebook and threats to tell her sons that she was pregnant, a matter which distressed her,” Judge Joanne Tracey said during sentencing.

“Some of those calls made it apparent that you were following her or monitoring her movement, including knowing where she was in her car and knowing when she was at work.”

The court heard Tammaro deliberately drove the victim off the road on the Northern Expressway, which has a speed limit of 110km, on June 12, 2018.

The victim was driving 90km/h when Tammaro purposely swerved his car into hers.

“The swerve caused the complainant’s vehicle to be pushed off the road down through a ditch … before coming to a halt,” Judge Tracey said.

The court heard the offending had a “profound and lasting” impact on the victim and she was in fear Tammaro would find her again.

The Woodville North father pleaded guilty to stalking and assault causing harm.

Judge Tracey sentenced Tammaro to two years and four months, with a non-parole period of 15 months.

Brodie Lemon

After his spurned actions forced his ex-girlfriend to install CCTV at their former home, a “nightmare” stalker repeatedly terrorised her before finally being locked behind bars.

Roof plumber Brodie Mark Lemon, 22, was dumped by his girlfriend of three years in May before he was cautioned against stalking the woman, who he became obsessed with and could not get over.

The Elizabeth Magistrates Court was told the warning did little to snap Lemon out of the alarming pattern of offending with him just 10 days later making 123 calls to her in a day.

That same day, the court heard, Lemon went to her Modbury house and tried to make contact with her.

Police prosecutor Jen Switala told the court the next day he again attended her house, knocking for two minutes – which was caught on CCTV installed by the ex to protect herself – before leaving.

Despite being locked up over his stalking, then released on police bail and being banned from contacting her, Lemon did not relent.

A day after his stint behind bars he again contacted the woman telling her he “just needed to see her”.

Without any success, and with his ex unblocking his number to tell him to “stop trying to hack into (her) email”, he “bombarded” her with “harassing” text messages.

Ms Switala told the court that bombardment started again 10 days later as Lemon’s offending continued into a 38th day.

He was arrested the following day and given home detention bail, but still Lemon continued.

Seventeen days later, with the ex having now dealt with the stalking for 55 days, Lemon sent her an extended message categorised by Magistrate Ben Sale as “long and apologetic … essentially saying goodbye”.

In total, Lemon pleaded guilty to aggravated stalking, breaching his bail and hindering police.

Magistrate Ben Sale described Lemon’s offending as “persistent”, “frightening”, having been “given no encouragement” and “a serious example of stalking”.

“This is, quite frankly, a young person’s nightmare – the ex-boyfriend who won’t go away and who is doing things that seem unhinged,” he said.

Lemon was convicted and sentenced to 41 days in prison, backdated to when he was arrested and jailed in August.

Sean Flintoff

Sean Flintoff. Picture: Facebook

After voraciously stalking 10 women, including ordering pizzas to their homes and compiling surveillance notes on their activities, a serial predator may be released from prison after spending 18 months behind bars.

Sean Ian Bruce Flintoff, 36, of Andrews Farm, has pleaded guilty to 22 counts of stalking relating to several different women over a period of eight years.

The Elizabeth Magistrates Court heard Nick Vadasz, for Flintoff, would ask the court for his client to be released from prison when he next faces court in February.

Flintoff was first reported to police after a woman who was talking to him on Tinder expressed her fear of him.

He was charged in August last year and then bailed on one count of stalking and one of property damage before a torrent of victims came forward expressing similar experiences with him.

Eventually, the series of women coming forward led to the revelation Flintoff had continued similar offending over a nine-year period until August last year.

Flintoff targeted women in their mid-30s using social media and Tinder.

The court previously heard Flintoff’s sickening infatuation with his victims had led him to send sex workers and pizzas to their homes, and to bombard them with text messages.

He will be sentenced in February.

Social media harasser

An alleged rape victim who bombarded her purported assailant and his family with grotesque and violent Facebook threats has been spared jail – and ordered to leave them alone.

The District Court sentenced the woman, who cannot be identified, to 18 months’ jail, but suspended that term on condition of a five-year, $1000 good behaviour bond.

In sentencing, Auxiliary Judge Gordon Barrett said the woman’s long campaign of harassment displayed “a relatively sophisticated ability to manipulate social media”.

The woman, 28, was convicted by a jury of four counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence.

She sent the man and his family threats of torture, mutilation and death, and posted a $300 reward online for anyone who “caves his skull in or, better yet, castrates him”.

The woman also threatened to dig up, defile and cannibalise the graves of the family’s dead relatives, sending photos of dismembered corpses captioned “this shall be your fate”.

The harassment campaign followed a drunken sexual encounter between the woman and the man, which he claimed was consensual and she asserted was rape.
Despite making admissions to police upon her arrest, the woman has maintained her innocence – and blocked her ears when her victims read impact statements to the court.