Toby Torrens guilty at Grafton court after threatening phone calls to his ex
A Grafton man who allegedly assaulted police officers has pleaded guilty to calling his former partner more than 20 times, threatening to kill her.
Police & Courts
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A Grafton man threatened to kill his former partner of 18 years on a private phone number before allegedly assaulting police officers in a bid to avoid arrest.
Toby Torrens, 36, was before Grafton Local Court on February 28 on three counts of contravening an apprehended violence order (AVO), one count of using a carriage service to threaten to kill, one count of stalking, three counts of resisting police and two counts of assaulting police.
Torrens has pleaded guilty to contravening an AVO and threatening to kill via a carriage service and hasn’t entered pleas to the remaining charges.
Torrens and his former partner were in an “on-and-off relationship” which ended two years ago, police facts state.
An AVO taken out in May 2021 to protect his former partner was breached by Torrens in December when he incessantly called his ex more than 20 times, threatening to kill her.
He screamed at her through the phone, threatening to come to her home “which made her feel terrified to the point of suffering a panic attack as she knows that the accused follows through with his threats,” police facts state.
Officers went to an address Torrens was supposed to be living at as per his bail conditions, but were told by a resident the accused “hadn’t been living there for quite some time”, police facts state.
Torrens is also alleged to have stalked his former partner in West Ballina at the start of February this year, contravening an AVO, which will be heard at Casino Local Court with pleas yet to be entered on March 9.
On the same day, police allege Torrens assaulted or hindered five different officers attempting to arrest him.
He’s further charged with contravening an AVO in Casino two days before his alleged attempt in West Ballina to contact his ex.
Magistrate Juliana Crofts refused Torrens bail, with court documents stating the accused is unemployed of no fixed abode.
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