Man sentenced for attempting to pervert the course of justice
A former deckhand’s multiple ‘angry and threatening’ calls to his victim almost succeeded in pressuring her to drop her complaint against him.
Police & Courts
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A prisoner who called his partner 78 times from jail to try to pressure her into dropping a complaint against him was sentenced to 18 months jail on Wednesday and released immediately on parole.
The man, 52, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice when he appeared before Maryborough District Court.
The court heard the man was living in a caravan on the property of a woman he was in a de facto relationship with in January 2024, when he was arrested for breaching a domestic violence order.
He had already breached the DVO on two earlier occasions.
While remanded in custody at Maryborough Correctional Centre, he persistently contacted the woman via the prisoner telephone system in breach of the order, the court heard.
He was “angry and threatening” towards the woman during the calls, it heard.
The man had contacted her 78 times and throughout many of the calls he tried to get her to withdraw her police statement, the court was told.
Judge Anthony Rafter said it was a serious offence and struck at the heart of justice, describing it as “despicable conduct”.
The man, who now lives in the South Burnett, had spent 100 days in presentence custody but was currently on bail, the court heard.
The man had a disadvantaged childhood and had lost his mother at a young age, and had worked in various professions over the years, including as a deckhand.
He had ongoing health issues, the court was told and suffered from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The man was sentenced to 18 months in prison with immediate release on parole.
The 100 days he spent in presentence custody was declared as time served.
Convictions were recorded.
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