Gladstone DV offender calls victim 175 times in four hours
A Central Queensland domestic violence offender bombarded his female victim with calls and messages in behaviour police described as “blowing up her phone.”
Police & Courts
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A Central Queensland domestic violence offender called his female victim 175 times in the space of just four hours, a court has heard.
The 24-year-old man, who by law cannot be named, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to two counts of contravening a domestic violence order.
The court heard the man’s most serious offending involved him bombarding his female victim with calls and messages.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Cath Purcell said the man made 175 phone calls to the woman over four hours between 11.30pm and 3.30am, with “a two-hour break” from 3.30am.
Sgt Purcell said he also tried to video call the woman 54 times from Facebook Messenger, and sent her 624 Facebook messages and 430 emojis via the same platform.
The court was told the man was still messaging the woman when she was making a complaint to police.
Sgt Purcell described the man’s behaviour as “aggressive, unrelenting, fixated and controlling.”
“(He) spent hours through the night blowing up her (victim’s) phone with messages,” Sgt Purcell said.
The man’s criminal history only contained one entry but it was domestic violence offending and he committed these latest offences before the court while on probation.
Solicitor Cassandra Ditchfield said the man had not reoffended in the 12 months since this offending happened, and in that time he had also completed DV and behavioural rehabilitation.
Ms Ditchfield tendered several documents which supported that rehab engagement.
She said the man, a father of two, suffered from several conditions including ADHD and he was receiving NDIS support.
During sentencing, Magistrate Mary Buchanan described the man’s offending as “incredibly relentless.”
She placed him on 18 months’ probation and no conviction was recorded.
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