A Gladstone Magistrate issued a stern warning to a man who attended his ex-partner’s workplace

A Gladstone man told police he would be in trouble frequently if his domestic violence order had to be followed to the ‘letter of the law’.

A Gladstone Magistrate issued a heated warning to a man had a run in with his ex-partner as she left work, a court heard.

The man, 52, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in the Gladstone Magistrates Court last week to two counts of contravening a domestic violence order.

On June 22, around 3.30pm, the victim finished work at a local high school and walked to her car when she heard the loud revving of a diesel engine.

She looked up and saw the defendant in his red Ford F100 truck parked 10 metres away, revving the engine and looking at her.

The victim started recording the defendant on her phone for evidence, which forced him to stop revving.

The defendant got out of his car and walked to the school’s office while the victim rang triple-0 to report the incident.

On July 1, the defendant attended Tannum Sands police station for an interview.

He told police his stepson had recently been enrolled at the school and he was aware the victim worked there.

The defendant said he went to school that day to pick up his stepson in case he missed the bus and never saw the victim.

When questioned on a condition of his Domestic Violence Order which prohibited him from being within 50 metres of the victim he said “Well I missed that bit” then, “If this is about the letter of the law, then I’m going to be in here quite a bit”.

In sentencing, Magistrate Bevan Manthey urged the defendant to abide by the conditions of his DVO.

“Be careful, because you don’t want to end up in a situation where you are stalking anyone,” he said.

“That is what situations like this end up looking like.”

The defendant was fined $1000 and escaped convictions.