Man, 22, pleads guilty to stalking his former girlfriend after their relationship ended

An Ipswich court has heard the disturbing level of harassment a young woman faced from her ex-boyfriend even after going overseas.

A young man made hundreds of phone calls and created fake online accounts to stalk his former girlfriend after they broke up.

A LOVE affair between two teenagers descended into a nightmare for a young woman after she broke off the relationship and became the object of unrelenting and intense stalking.

An Ipswich court heard there was a barrage of phone calls from her jilted former boyfriend, which continued even when she fled overseas on holiday.

Now four years after their affair ended, the Crown prosecution case over the man’s behaviour has been finalised by Ipswich District Court.

The man, now aged 22, pleaded guilty to unlawful stalking the young woman in 2017; unlawful stalking while contravening a court order – domestic violence offence; and seven offences of breaching his bail conditions.

Crown prosecutor Amanda Robinson said the pair met when they both were aged 17, and they dated for 18 months until the young woman ended the relationship in July 2017.

“He did not take it very well,” Ms Robinson said.

The young woman went overseas, but over the course of just five days the man called her 248 times, the court heard.

Ms Robinson said the calls continued after the woman returned home.

The court was told he called her 189 times in 17 days, at one point saying he would kill himself if they did not get back together.

Ms Robinson said the man’s stalking included making contact through social media, creating fake accounts online, and contacting the woman’s associates.

The woman made a formal complaint to police in August 2017 and a temporary protection order was granted for the man to have no contact with her.

He continued to contact the woman despite the order, the court heard.

Ms Robinson said that for 48 days he continued to contact her through social media and called her 11 times, all in breach of the conditions.

He also sent her an indecent image of his penis.

“She has been impacted as a consequence of his offending. He is youthful but it (offences) attract a maximum penalty of seven years,” Ms Robinson said.

“It is a domestic violence offence, an aggravating feature.”

Ms Robinson said the Crown sought a three-year probation order, and a restraining order of 10 years preventing contact with the woman.

Defence barrister Sam Di Carlo said it had been four years since the offending that showed the man had done the right thing by having no further contact with the complainant.

He tended medical material and psychiatric reports that included his diagnosis for Asperger’s syndrome, being on the autism spectrum, ADHD and other health factors he said the court should take into account. Mr Di Carlo said his client was also on appropriate medication to treat these conditions.

“Their relationship at 17 was intense in the extreme. He had issues and he became infatuated,” Mr Di Carlo said.

“He was also besotted to have their child and held the belief she was pregnant.”

Mr Di Carlo said his very supportive family moved away from Ipswich to help their son, causing his father to take a substantial decrease in income.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC said it was disappointing the matter had not been resolved earlier but the accused did benefit by his law-abiding behaviour since.

Judge Lynch sentenced him to a two-year supervised probation order with no conviction recorded. A 10-year no contact order was also put in place.

“It is very serious and if you engage in this behaviour in the future there is a good chance you will end up in prison,” Judge Lynch warned.