Bradley Amadeus Bessant-Probert pleads guilty to stalking and DVO breach offences

A Bundaberg man terrorised a woman with a barrage of phone calls and text messages including threats against her children.

Bradley Amadeus Bessant-Probert pleaded guilty before Bundaberg Magistrates Court to three charges of contravening a domestic violence order and one charge of unlawful stalking. Source: Facebook

A man made more than 2000 phone calls and text messages to a woman over a 13 day period in breach of a domestic violence order, a court heard.

Bradley Amadeus Bessant-Probert pleaded guilty before Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday, May 9 to three counts of contravening a domestic violence order and one of unlawful stalking.

The court heard Bessant-Probert sent 1179 text messages and made at least 1000 phone calls to the woman over a 13 day period, including threats to harm her children.

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A domestic violence order prohibiting Bessant-Probert from making any contact with the woman was in place when he sent the text messages and made the phone calls.

The court was told Bessant-Probert also uploaded an image of the woman to the classified ads website Locanto with the heading “I am a horny slut” and text soliciting clients for sexual services with the woman’s phone number included.

The court heard in other texts Bessant-Probert threatened to go to the woman’s house, and sent photos of himself getting closer to her home.

Bessant-Probert made over 2,000 phone calls and text messages to a woman over a 13 day period in breach of a domestic violence order. Source: Facebook

On another occasion, Bessant-Probert approached the woman in a shopping centre and followed her in and out of various shops.

The court was told Bessant-Probert was restrained by security guards after getting into a loud argument with the woman at the shopping centre.

On the final occasion, the court heard Bessant-Probert waited outside the woman’s house for around one hour, shouting insults and threatening to post her picture on the internet.

Police arrested Bessant-Probert following this incident.

Defence lawyer Craig Ryan told the court his client had a “significant mental history” and was not taking prescribed antidepressant and antipsychotic medication at the time of the offences.

Mr Ryan said he had seen Bessant-Probert’s mental state improve from being “aggressive, paranoid and quite belligerent” when he first encountered him to becoming “remorseful … quiet, (and) reserved” after resuming his medication.

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Mr Ryan told the court that his client hoped to move on from the incident and spend time with his four children.

Magistrate Edwina Rowan told Bessant-Probert that his behaviour in relation to the offences was “abhorrent” and “disgusting” and would have caused the woman “extreme fear”.

Bessant-Probert was sentenced to two years’ prison with parole in October, 2023 on account of time already served in custody.