Gladstone man busted secretly living with domestic violence victim

When police knocked on the door of a Gladstone residence, they uncovered a secret that had been kept quiet for two years.

Police busted a Gladstone man living with his domestic violence victim illegally. Generic image.

A Gladstone couple busted secretly living together illegally had kept what they were doing quiet for two years, a court has heard.

A 31-year-old man, who by law cannot be named, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court on April 24 to contravening a domestic violence order.

The court heard that on April 4, police attended the aggrieved woman’s Gladstone residence and the man answered the door.

The court was told that due to a protection order being in place since 2021, the man was not allowed to be within 100m of the woman, nor was he allowed to contact or locate her.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Tanya Griffiths said when the man was questioned by police, he confirmed he was aware of the protection order and its conditions.

“He stated to police that he had lived at the address with the aggrieved (woman) and named children for about two years and they were hoping to go undetected until the (protection) order expired (in 2026),” Sgt Griffiths said.

“(The man) stated to police the information in the initial (domestic violence) application was not true and the (woman) was pressured by her mother to report the information to police.”

Sergeant Griffiths said the man was removed from the woman’s residence by police and charged.

“It is a blatant disregard for the law – he’d been living with her (aggrieved) for two years, and the named children, despite the very strict order being in place,” she said.

The court heard the man had no criminal history.

Solicitor Rio Ramos said the man had been in a relationship with the woman for many years and they shared children together.

She said since this incident, the man and the woman had lived at separate residences.

Ms Ramos said the man instructed that the woman’s mother had reported him to police as she was “being spiteful.”

The solicitor said the couple was still in a relationship and they had unsuccessfully tried to get the protection order varied prior to this matter coming before the court.

The court heard that varying the order may be possible once this matter was finalised in court.

Before handing down penalty, Acting Magistrate Mary Buchanan gave the man some advice.

“If your mother-in-law sent them (police) around once, she’ll send them around again,” Ms Buchanan said.

Ms Buchanan fined the man $600 and no conviction was recorded.