Shaun Wade Simpson, 32, pleads guilty to stalking

A ‘highly regarded’ businessman and ‘family man’ who relentlessly stalked a woman was also convicted six years ago of an equally shocking crime.

An emotional breakdown led to a “highly regarded” Bundaberg tradesman using a GPS tracker to stalk a woman.

Shaun Wade Simpson, 32, pleaded guilty in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday, September 14, to stalking.

The court heard that between July 16 and July 19, 2022, Simpson sent 98 text messages to the victim.

Things took a more sinister turn on July 21, when the victim began receiving messages from an unknown number.

The court heard that the first message read, “hey, how are you feeling? Sorry about you and Shaun... I’ll be here for another week or so.”

The next day, she received further texts from the same number, with one saying, “I’m taking it you don’t want anything to do with me then, you still look so beautiful”.

The victim believed the number belonged to Simpson and didn't reply to his messages.

Shaun Wade Simpson pleaded guilty to stalking in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Simpson was then seen attending the victim’s netball game, which made her feel uncomfortable, according to police.

On July 24, Simpson went to her house, and after talking with her, said he was going outside for a smoke.

She later saw him standing at her car, opening the boot and looking through it, the court heard.

She confronted him and he walked away.

Later that same day, she received a text message saying: “We drove past you, you are at the police station”.

The victim told police she was actually at a coffee shop further down the road.

On July 27, Simpson went to her home to speak with her again and she confronted him about messaging her off another phone number, telling him she “knew he had a burner phone”.

It was then Simpson walked to the rear of her car and leaned down, appearing to retrieve something while hiding something behind his back.

She asked him what he had in his hand, and asked if it was a tracker.

Simpson said he placed a tracker on her car, but it hadn’t been working, so he was taking it off.

The court heard Simpson later admitted to police he placed the tracker on her car and said it had only worked for a day or two before the battery died.

His lawyer told the court he was a successful tradesman who had established his own business as a tiler.

“He’s a highly regarded local tradesman that has built up his own business,” she said.

“He’s also an employer, he has two young apprentices working for him, as well as another tradesperson, all reliant on him to pay their wages and mortgages, no doubt.”

The court heard Simpson was “dedicated” to sobriety and was a dedicated, hard working family man.

“He’s attending narcotics anonymous two times a week,” his lawyer said.

She said Simpson promised he would get treatment for ice addiction.

A ‘highly regarded’ tradie previously convicted of torturing a couple in 2016 has faced court again, admitting to using GPS technology to stalk a woman, with a magistrate commenting that his bail application could be the ‘longest’ Bundaberg court has ever seen.

In 2016, Simpson was one of three men charged for luring a Bundaberg couple to a house and assaulting and torturing them over a $10,000 drug debt.

Simpson’s defence barrister at the time, Paul Rutledge, said his client had become depressed after losing his job and at the time of the offence was in the “full-blown grip of an ice addiction”.

Simpson served 158 days of pre-sentence custody for his involvement, but received a five-year suspended jail sentence.

Magistrate John McInnes told the prosecutor Simpson’s bail application on Tuesday may be the “longest bail application ever made in this court”, due to his previous criminal history.

Mr McInnes also took into consideration the circumstances around the offending.

Simpson was placed on 18 months probation and a conviction was recorded.