Man comes to alleged rescue of friend with cheesy surprise

A man’s attempt to save a mate from alleged domestic violence took a bizarre turn with a hoax call to police and pizza orders.

A man who “bizarrely” stalked a friend’s new partner by filing a false police report and ordering pizzas to be delivered to their residence told a court he did it out of care.

Clifford George Carpenter, 54, a motorcycle mechanic of Victoria Point, pleaded guilty in Cleveland Magistrates Court to one count of unlawful stalking.

Carpenter told the court his friend of four years had complained to him that she suffered domestic violence at the hands of her new partner, which stirred him to action.

However, a police prosecutor said the seemingly annoying behaviour was in fact a serious offence that wasted valuable police resources.

The court heard over a number of months last year Carpenter ordered pizza to be delivered at his friend’s Cleveland residence on multiple occasions to “annoy” the new beau.

On September 10 last year the defendant placed a call to police falsely alleging an incident of domestic violence was under way at his friend’s home.

Pizza came as unwanted surprise to stalking victims.

Police responded to the residence but realised it was a concocted charge.

And the defendant went as far as to leave a flyer on the windshield of his friend’s partner’s vehicle claiming to be a police officer aware of domestic violence being perpetrated.

Defence solicitor Rhys Foster said his client’s behaviour – though “bizarre” – was out of character for a man who had not previously come before the courts.

“On my instruction he genuinely believed she was in a domestically violent relationship and he was doing his best to help out,” Mr Foster said.

“With respect to the pizzas he does instruct that he paid for the pizzas”.

Magistrate Deborah Vasta acknowledged the man’s complete lack of criminal history but labelled his behaviour nonetheless as “quite controlling” and “quite fixated”.

Magistrate Vasta also confirmed that the woman in question had not suffered domestic violence at the hands of her partner.

Carpenter was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service and sentenced to 18 months’ probation.

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He was further ordered to pay his victims $800 in compensation, placed on a non-contact order and forbade from placing any orders of food to the targeted parties.

A conviction was not recorded.