Luigi Tammaro stalked his ex-partner over several months and tried to run her off the road

A Woodville North dad bombarded his former partner with up to 200 calls a day, threatened to post intimate photos of her online and then ran her off the road.

A father 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’s lawyer made a last-ditch effort in the Adelaide District Court on Wednesday to keep him out of jail, saying he now accepted the relationship was over.

The court previously heard Tammaro, 38, stalked the victim by sending threatening text messages and calling her up to 200 times per day between February and June 2018.

“These included threats to post sensitive images of her online, threats to tell the children she was pregnant, a matter which distressed her,” the prosecutor said.

“Some of these phone calls made it apparent to the victim that the defendant was following her or monitoring her movements, including knowing where she was in her car, knowing when she was at work.”

The court heard Tammaro said to the victim in a text that “her car would crash into a tree and no one would know”.

The court heard the victim had to get a new phone number.

“She was made to feel fearful and anxious almost permanently. Those are feelings that have remained in her life,” the prosecutor said.

The court heard Tammaro deliberately drove the victim off the road on the Northern Expressway, which has a speed limit of 110km, by swerving his car into hers.

“The victim estimates she was going about 90km/h at this time when this happened,” the prosecutor said.

The victim suffered bruising and soreness from the incident.

“The harm could have been far worse and the consequence of this conduct could have been catastrophic,” the prosecutor said.

“These actions appear to have been triggered by the victim choosing to leave the relationship because she thought it had become violent and unsafe for her.”

Luigi Tammaro will be sentenced next month for stalking his ex-partner. Photo: Facebook

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

In the Adelaide District Court on Wednesday, James Marcus, for Tammaro, pushed for a home detention sentence, saying he had been participating in men stopping violence programs and learning new strategies.

“He’s accepted that his relationship with his former partner is over and there’s no prospect of reconciliation,” he said.

The court heard Tammaro is in a new relationship and working in the family business.

Mr Marcus said Tammaro, who has an intellectual disability, was remorseful for his offending.

However, Rasa Bakutis, for the prosecution, told the court Tammaro continued to blame the victim for the offending.

“He plainly avoids accepting responsibility for his conduct and has no empathy for the complainant,” Ms Bakutis said.

“Additionally Mr Tammaro explains that he never followed the complainant home or rang or texted her.”

Judge Joanne Tracey will sentence Tammaro next month.