Former MP Craig Thomson charged with using carriage service to harass ex-wife

A magistrate has admonished disgraced former Labor MP Craig Thomson for his “tone” in court after he was charged with allegedly using a carriage service to harass his ex-wife.

Former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson represented himself in Gosford Local Court on Tuesday after being charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend his ex-wife Zoe Thomson.

The 57-year-old, of Terrigal, made an application to vary his bail and remove a “harsh and unnecessary” interim apprehended violence order (AVO) taken out by police to protect Ms Thomson.

Thomson said he would agree not to contact Ms Thomson unless it was through a lawyer but argued further conditions attached to the interim AVO would cause him undue hardship leading up to Christmas and potentially up to “eight months” before the matter could go before a hearing.

He said the AVO was “cruel and unfair” and based on a series of emails he sent his ex-wife and a court-appointed mediator.

He said contacting Ms Thomson through her lawyers was a “mute point”.

“The lawyers Zoe Thomson is using don’t respond because they’re not getting paid,” Thomson told the court.

“The only people who have put this in place are the police.

“It’s a total abuse of the AVO process.”

Thomson told the court police had taken out an interim AVO against him previously based on the same series of emails.

Former Federal Labor MP Craig Thomson pictured at Terrigal on Monday. Picture: David Swift

The AVO was granted in his absence but he applied to have it relisted and it was annulled on November 23.

However Magistrate Jennifer Price told Thomson she did not “like the tone” of his submissions and advised him that once police had laid a criminal charge the court was required to make an interim AVO for the protected person.

“The landscape has changed,” she said.

She told him the question was the conditions of the interim AVO, not the AVO itself.

Magistrate Price granted the interim AVO preventing Thomson from assaulting, threatening, or intimidating Ms Thomson or intentionally or recklessly destroying any of her property.

A further condition of the order is that he not approach or contact Ms Thomson unless it was through a lawyer, mediator or following orders from another court.

Craig Thomson is going through a divorce with his third wife Zoe Thomson.

Magistrate Price said if he and his ex-wife were able to reach an agreement “in writing” he could seek to have the matter relisted before Christmas.

Thomson was not required to enter a plea to allegedly using a carriage service to harass Ms Thomson.

Charge sheets tendered in court allege Thomson used his Gmail account to send Ms Thomson a series of threatening emails between October 25 and his arrest on Friday, December 10.

The police prosecutor sought an adjournment for the charge to be considered for “election” by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and the matter was adjourned to January 11.