Mount Isa man, Lawrence Edward Roos jailed for stalking woman

An ex-boyfriend made one cent bank transfers to a woman so he could continue to threaten and harass her in addition to tracking her movements in a disturbing series of stalking offences.

Cyber stalking. Picture: istock

A man spiralled into a series of disgusting offences when he stalked a woman, tracked her location and sent back transfers with descriptions threatening to kill her after he had been blocked from contacting her in other ways.

Lawrence Edward Roos was dumped by his girlfriend in early 2023 before he started stalking her by showing up at her home late at night, forcing his way into her house and harassing her and her friends for months.

Prosecution officer Jack Toohey said the now 29-year-old kicked a laundry basket at the woman’s dog, followed her in her car and even threatened to fight a male colleague of hers he saw at the pub.

“He used her name and contact details to provide for jobs at strip clubs and sex work websites,” the prosecutor said.

“On 21 occasions he transferred a single cent to her bank, he would write threats of physical violence in the description.”

Roos frequently made physical and sexual violent threats, and made false emergency calls so that emergency services showed up at the woman’s house.

In extremely concerning events, Mr Toohey said the man was able to locate the woman and knew when she had attended the police station and moved addresses.

He also stalked the woman’s friend, making false police reports so authorities would show up at the friend’s home and threatened a male friend with a message that read, “don’t ever f — k my ex again the fat sl-t … just let her know I’ve got something special for the big fat sl-t … tell her I’m going to have the last laugh … when I catch you, you better run and hide, I’m going to use your head as a trampoline”.

Roos fled to the NT when he found out the woman reported his offending to police, then to Western Australia where he ran from police and was found hiding in a bin, the court was told.

Defence barrister Jessica Hine instructed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Legal Services said her client had a “complicated and tragic background”.

She said he had an “unstable” childhood where he suffered from significant trauma and witnessed “extreme violence”.

“They are extreme threats, can I point out there was no physical violence,” Ms Hine said.

“I don’t raise that to diminish the offending.”

She said the man had developed an addiction to methamphetamine and alcohol, and claimed he has sought psychological assistance while behind bars.

Judge Gregory Lynham labelled the messages the man sent as “vulgar and degrading”.

“The vicious and nasty campaign continued despite moving interstate,” he noted.

Roos pleaded guilty to stalking with violence and making threats with violence.

He was sentenced to four years’ jail with a parole eligibility date of May 24 as 436 days of pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.

His Honour also approved a restraining order be made against the man.

Originally published as Mount Isa man, Lawrence Edward Roos jailed for stalking woman