Gympie region businessman breaches domestic violence order
The 62-year-old fronted the Gympie court this week after throwing a police protection order in the bin on Christmas Eve and then breaching it twice
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A Cooloola Cove man who threw a police protection order in the bin without reading it swiftly came to regret the decision after being fined $300 for breaching it twice.
The 62-year-old, who cannot be legally named, was placed under a no contact order on Christmas Eve last year, preventing him from communicating with his wife who he ran a business with.
Gympie Magistrates Court heard this week that despite the order, from December 26 to January 5 the man sent multiple text and Facebook messages to her, leading her to lodge two complaints with police.
When interviewed he told them he “did not fully understand” the conditions of the order and had sent the messages trying to apologise for the breakdown of a 16-year relationship.
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The court heard the man told police he had been depressed about the break-up and tossed the order in the bin when it was issued.
His lawyer said his client was “confused’ and heartbroken” over the relationship’s end.
As a result of the order he had also been unable to return to work without breaching its conditions, some of the illegal messages were about suppliers, and in the time since, his wife had “drained their joint bank account” and “left him locked out (of it)”, the court was told.
“There was no malice or intent to harm behind the messages,” his lawyer said.
Magistrate Chris Callaghan accepted this was the case but the messages were still illegal.
“You should have paid attention to the police protection order,” Mr Callaghan said.
He accepted the man’s guilty pleas to two counts of breaching the order, fined him $300 and ordered no conviction be recorded.
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