‘What was he thinking?’: Alleged love rat Paul Iera accused of phoney kidnapping alibi

Police allege an Illawarra labourer lied about being kidnapped to pull the wool over his partner’s eyes about him being with a sex worker on New Year’s Eve.

A magistrate has been left dumbfounded by the staggering lengths an Illawarra tiler has allegedly gone to cover up an affair with a mistress on New Year’s Eve.

Police allege Paul Iera sent them on a $27,000 goose chase after he claimed he’d been kidnapped by “unknown Middle Eastern males” when in reality he was with a sex worker in a Dombarton granny flat.

Iera, the operator of I-lay Wall & Floor Tiling, was arrested at his Horsley home on Thursday and charged with making false representations resulting in a police investigation and making false accusations, with Wollongong Local Court hearing on Friday the latter carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.

Documents tendered in court stated Iera, 35, allegedly used his father‘s phone shortly after 3.30pm on December 31, last year, to text his mistress “I’m coming now f**k me”.

Iera is alleged to have sent two further messages in the following two hours, including one stating he was “sorry for any extra stress” and that he “only ever wanted the best for u and me”.

The court documents alleged Iera called the woman at 11.40pm, but the phone went unanswered.

However, five minutes later he told his partner he was going to meet his “financial guy” at the shops on Bong Bong Rd, Dapto.

At 11.56pm, Iera’s partner received a message from his phone reading “It’s [sex worker’s name] thank you for sending Paul to me now payback is a b---h bye bye”.

The court documents stated two minutes later CCTV allegedly captured Iera and his mistress walking towards a granny flat in Dombarton with the accused decked out in a no. 33 basketball jersey and carrying an overnight bag.

The search and investigation allegedly cost police around $27,000.

At 12.02am on January 1, police allege Iera’s partner received a text from the accused’s phone reading “But I’m going to be fare ok we will keep him with us until the morning wen he give us his bike we call it square no one’s touching him my word I’ll give u hun ok”.

Police allege Iera’s partner knew the sex worker and the accused had “previous history”, and the bike in question was a $7000 dirt bike.

Iera’s partner contacted police who established Strike Force Evison to investigate the kidnapping with resources from the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad called in to canvas the area.

Iera, allegedly posing as a kidnapper, sent a third message to his partner saying “We will tell you a location to come and meet us ok”.

About 9.13am later that day, according to police, Iera called his father and allegedly told him he was in Wollongong and that his bogus kidnappers were going to drop him at a car nearby, however, cell tower information detected the call coming from a location around Dapto.

Court documents stated Iera, wearing the same clothes as the night before, got into the passenger seat of the sex worker’s car at about 9.20am and was dropped off at his car on Farm Rd, Horsley.

Six minutes later, police allege the sex worker messaged Iera “Omg Paul I can’t believe what u have done how was I supposed to react” with investigators suspecting this was a response to the accused’s father alerting him police were searching for him.

Paul Iera being arrested at his Horsley home on Thursday. Picture: NSW Police

About 10.30am, police sighted Iera’s van and, with the belief he was kidnapped and being held hostage, conducted a high-risk vehicle stop.

After ensuring Iera’s safety, police took a statement where he allegedly said he was “kidnapped by unknown Middle Eastern males” and identified the sex worker’s voice as “being present and directing the kidnapping”.

Iera allegedly told officers he was taken on Bong Bong Rd, Dapto, when he was on the way to the shops and thrown into the rear seat of a Mitsubishi Triton where he was blindfolded and driven to Farm Rd, Horsley.

He allegedly went on to tell officers he was dumped at his van and given instructions regarding handing over this dirt bike.

However, court documents indicated “many hours of reviewing” CCTV and analysing phone records led police to believe the whole charade was fabricated.

According to court documents, on Thursday afternoon police arrested and charged Iera at his Acland Dr abode where he allegedly said “I was under duress. I must have mixed up the times they had me”.

The court documents stated the search and investigation cost nearly $5000 in overtime, $15,000 to call out the special teams, $1000 to access telco data and $6000 in additional police wages – money that “could have been utilised on actual crime and actual victims”.

Iera’s partner, mother and sister appeared in court as Magistrate Chris McRobert said he was “not impressed” with the man’s alleged behaviour.

“It’s quite a bizarre matter,” Mr McRobert said.

“The court can make a guess about [his chances] of reoffending [while on bail], but this is quite out of left field.

“What in the world was he thinking? Trying to fool his partner, but with little foresight to the cost to the community.”

Mr McRobert granted Iera bail while ordering him to report to Lake Illawarra Command daily, deposit a $2000 surety and reside with his parents in Horsley.

The matter will return to Wollongong Local Court later this month.