Man sentenced for repeat DV breach and drug possession

A man was told he would go to jail next time he breached a domestic violence order after offending for the seventh time.

A man who breached a domestic violence order for the seventh time has been warned by a magistrate he will go to jail if he reoffends.

The man, who cannot legally be named, came before Proserpine Magistrates Court for breaching a domestic violence order after he entered his ex-partner’s backyard on November 27, 2023.

Prosecutor Lachlan Perry said the man told police officers he went to the property to pick up his children and bring them to school.

Mr Perry said police officers also found 5.5g of marijuana on him in a resealable plastic bag when they transported him to the police station.

Mr Perry told the court there needed to be a “strong element of deterrence” imposed as it was his seventh breach, and asked that a prison term be imposed.

PD Law solicitor Peta Vernon told the court that the contact appeared to have been “consensual”.

She told the court domestic violence in the relationship had been caused by the man’s alcohol addiction and that he was now trying not to drink by smoking marijuana instead.

Acting Magistrate Michael Bice told the man he would still impose a fine to take into account the circumstances.

“Next time you do this, you will be going to jail,” Mr Bice said.

“We often get repeat offenders in court and there needs to be deterrents.”

He pleaded guilty in front of the Proserpine Magistrates Court to contravening a DV order and possessing dangerous drugs.

He was fined $1000.