Hervey Bay man pleads guilty to contravening DV order after ‘disturbing’, ‘stalker-like’ behaviour

A Qld man in his 20s with a “stalking-like nature” repeatedly defied an order not to contact his ex-partner, making ominous threats and even turning up to her house. But he won’t go to jail or pay a fine.

A Hervey Bay man has pleaded guilty to contravening a domestic violence order against his partner and child in May this year.

A Hervey Bay man told his partner he would “make her regret living” unless she fell pregnant with a boy, a court has heard.

The man fronted Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to contravening a domestic violence order against his partner and child.

The order, which was set in a separate Magistrates court earlier this year, stipulated that, among multiple other elements, the defendant must not publish any material about the woman or attempt to contact her without legal representation.

The man’s partner provided Snapchat messages sent from the man to police on July 3, telling her he wanted her to return home and later threatening to kill himself if she didn’t, police prosecutor Sergeant Kim Harwood told the court.

Magistrate John Milburn said the threat of suicide was something courts took “very seriously because it is tugging on the heartstrings of the aggrieved unfairly and inappropriately”.

On July 17, the man allegedly verbally abused the woman saying she “better get pregnant with a boy” or he would “make her regret living”, using words to the effect of “if you take this to police, I will kill you”.

On July 19, he attended the woman’s home to verbally abuse her and her sister before sending more apology messages on Snapchat two weeks later.

The woman reported multiple incidents of her partner breaching court orders.

The man’s partner continued to be inundated with messages from his Instagram account, ominously telling her to “check her mirror”.

A handwritten note was found on the inside of her car mirror, stating that she was the “love of his life”.

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Hervey Bay police attended the man’s address on October 12 where he did not participate in an interview and was subsequently arrested with his phone seized.

Messages sent from his Instagram account were located and photographed.

Sergeant Harwood described the man as having a “stalking-like nature” due to his behaviour being “consistent, persistent” and “designed to keep contact between him and the aggrieved”.

The man in his mid-twenties had battled mental health issues throughout his life and accepted his behaviour should be denounced, the court heard.

Mr Milburn described the man’s behaviour as “disturbing” and “designed to be coercive in nature”.

The man was placed on six months’ probation and a conviction was recorded.