Canberra prisoner used illegal mobile phone to harass ex from Alexander Maconochie Centre
A Canberra prisoner used a contraband mobile phone as part of his effort to find out where his former partner had fled to after he was jailed for assaulting her
Canberra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Canberra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Public servant stalker blames his crimes on drugs, avoids more jail
- Defence department bureaucrat’s ‘frenzied’ stalking of best mate
- Dad’s taser death ‘broke my heart’, loving daughter tells inquest
A prisoner at Canberra’s notoriously-violent jail used a contraband mobile phone as part of a months-long campaign to intimidate is former partner and find out where she had moved to.
The 25-year-old inmate, who cannot be named, was behind bars for a serious assault on his former partner, told the court in a statement she fears what might happen to her when he is released.
“I shouldn’t have to live in fear,” the woman’s statement said.
The man on Tuesday was sentenced for breaching a restraining order which prevented him from trying to find out where the woman had moved to.
He was also sentenced over the use of a stolen rental car and possessing the contraband phone inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Defence lawyer Joshua Ong said his client’s conduct was “controlling” and “obsessive”, but that he had not contacted his victim since being charged.
Prosecutor Elizabeth West said the man, who has a long history of violence, used the prison phone system to call the woman and, in 15 phone calls, repeatedly prodded the woman for details about where she had moved to.
The man also called his victim a “bitch” and aggressively asked if his she was seeing anyone else.
At one point told her he was “on seg row” for “losing his shit”.
All of the man’s calls were recorded on the prison’s phone system.
Magistrate Beth Campbell said the man — who has now been behind bars since mid-2018 — had a “pretty terrible” criminal record.
“It seems you have lived a life full of anger and a desire to cause other people harm,” she said.
She said his crimes were a result of an “apparent inability or refusal to sense your relationship with her cannot and would not continue”.
Ms Campbell said the ACT’s system of anti-domestic violence laws had failed the woman.
“This woman wants to get on and live her life without fear of you,” she said.
She the man had proven why prison authorities worried about inmates having contraband mobile phones.
She sentenced him to 19 months on top of his existing 23 month sentence and made him eligible for parole in October.
“If you behave yourself you could still be released by the end of this year,” she said.