Gary McCarthy: Former Wellington taxi driver calls ex-partner 38 times and threatens suicide

A former taxi driver in Wellington who called his ex-partner 38 times and threatened to kill himself has learnt his fate in court. Here’s how it unfolded.

Gary McCarthy was sentenced in Wellington Local Court on Tuesday.

An obsessive former taxi driver from Wellington called his ex-partner 38 times, threatening to kill himself, a court has heard.

Gary McCarthy, 30, appeared in Wellington Local Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to use carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

According to an agreed set of facts tendered to court, McCarthy had been in a relationship with the victim for about three years, having two children together before the relationship ended on November 3 this year.

Gary McCarthy outside Wellington Local Court on Tuesday.

The following day, between 4.09pm and 5.18pm, McCarthy made a total of 38 calls to the victim, and these were either unanswered or lasting under one minute.

Agreed facts reveal the victim “consistently told” McCarthy to stop contacting her, however she continued to text him as he was “threatening to harm himself” but she feared for her own safety.

About 5.30pm, McCarthy attended the victim’s address, demanding she give him their children as police arrived a short time later.

Officers obtained a statement from the victim along with screenshots of her mobile phone, showing the text messages and phone calls.

“The [victim] provided police with several messages of [McCarthy] stating he wanted to harm himself,” agreed facts state.

“These include saying goodbye to all of the [victim and two children], telling [her] that he was going to hang himself, and requesting that she find out where he can buy drugs from so that he is able to overdose.”

Further messages to the victim detailed McCarthy asking for her to assist him with hanging himself, saying he would “make it look like an accident” so his kids wouldn’t see him as being “weak”.

McCarthy also sent details to the victim about his super and life insurance, saying she could access his funds.

But when speaking to police, McCarthy told police he “said those things out of spite” but he was taken to Dubbo Hospital because officers believed he was “struggling with his mental health”.

As a result of the offending, an apprehended domestic violence order was sought for the victim’s safety.

Wellington Local Court. Photo: Google Maps

On Tuesday, McCarthy’s lawyer David Hemsworth said the offending “could go by the way of a non-conviction”.

“He was becoming quite stressed because the [victim] had been attending the address of particular people from around town,” Mr Hemsworth said.

He explained that the son of the owner of the house had “served a significant term of imprisonment” and this was “certainly on [McCarthy’s] mind at the time”.

Mr Hemsworth told the court McCarthy was a taxi driver in Wellington before his licence was revoked, and he is currently employed in another profession and a conviction would have a “significant effect on him”.

“Given the circumstances of the offending, he wasn’t necessarily intending to harass her,” Mr Hemsworth said.

Despite an early objection to Mr Hemsworth’s calls for a non-conviction, Magistrate Emma Manea was more compliant “given all the subjective circumstances”.

McCarthy was placed on a two-year conditional release order without conviction.

“Let me make it clear to you … if you do this again, there will be a very significant penalty,” Magistrate Manea said.

“She was obviously trying to move on with the relationship, you need to respect that.”